FAIR 


BOOKS   BY 

<£jjbert 

(MARY  N.   MURFREE) 


NOVELS  AND  STORIES 

THE    FAIR    MISSISSIPPIAN.     With  frontispiece. 

THE   FRONTIERSMEN. 

IN   THE   TENNESSEE    MOUNTAINS. 

THE      PROPHET     OF     THE     GREAT      SMOKY 

MOUNTAINS. 
IN   THE   CLOUDS. 

THE   DESPOT   OF    BROOMSEDGE    COVE. 
WHERE   THE    BATTLE    WAS    FOUGHT. 
HIS   VANISHED    STAR. 

THE   MYSTERY  OF  WITCH-FACE    MOUNTAIN. 
THE   JUGGLER. 

JUVENILES 

THE   CHAMPION.     With  a  Frontispiece. 
THE   YOUNG    MOUNTAINEERS.     Illustrated. 
THE   STORY   OF    KEEDON    BLUFFS. 
DOWN   THE   RAVINE.     Illustrated. 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
BOSTON  AND  NBW  YORK 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 


HONOKIA 


COr r BIGHT,    1908,    BY    MARY    N.    MU 
ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 

Published  October  /go* 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 


39377 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 


CHAPTER  I 

JL  HE  simplest  fact  of  this  life  of  ours  is  subject 
to  manifold  and  diverse  interpretations.  It  was  the 
faithful  belief  of  Edward  Desmond,  and  his  inward 
protest,  that  he  did  not  care  for  money.  He  had  the 
true  scholar's  disdain  of  the  froth  and  fret  of  fashion 
that  can  but  scantily  disguise  the  mental  shallowness 
of  society.  He  was  not  fond  of  luxury.  He  had  an 
ardor  for  hard  work  and  a  passionate  ambition  for 
achievement.  He  desired  but  a  modest  competence 
and  the  opportunity  for  mental  development  along 
the  lines  which  his  expanding  capacities  gave  promise 
of  compassing.  Nevertheless,  at  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  his  elaborate  education  at  length  complete,  in 
the  prime  of  his  intellectual  powers,  tingling  with 
the  consciousness  of  ability,  he  found  that  he  had 
become  suddenly  solicitous  in  small  matters  of  social 
precedence  ;  he  experienced  a  pained  deprecation  of 
the  presence  of  wealth;  he  winced  with  a  sensitive 
realization  of  poverty ;  he  had  acquired  a  wavering 
yet  proud  self-assertion,  consciously  futile. 

The  change  had  been  wrought  in  a  time  of  griev 
ous  tragedy,  full  of  poignancies  scarcely  to  be  ade 
quately  appreciated  by  the  practical  world.  For  less 
sensitive  men  have  suffered  more  bitter  woes  It  was 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

a  trite  tragedy,  with  no  traits  of  dramatic  potentiali 
ties.  On  the  sudden  death  of  his  father  ensued  the 
revelation  of  a  shattered  estate,  the  usual  frantic, 
useless  effort  to  avert  total  wreck,  final  defeat  cul 
minating  in  the  forced  sale  of  an  old  home  with  all 
its  appurtenances.  The  memories,  the  dreams,  the 
traditions,  the  broken  hopes  that  had  hallowed  the 
old  chattels  were  too  immaterial  even  for  the  cormo 
rant-like  comprehensiveness  of  the  inventories,  and 
these  sanctities  were  all  that  was  left  for  the  heir. 

His  friends,  however,  took  an  optimistic  view. 
When  the  struggle  was  over, — brief,  but  hopeless  and 
conclusive,  —  they  found  solace  in  the  completeness 
of  his  equipment ;  his  education  was  at  length  fin 
ished  ;  he  had  returned  to  his  Maryland  home  only 
the  previous  June  from  an  elaborate  course  of  study 
abroad ;  the  world  was  before  him.  As  to  the  profes 
sion  of  the  law  for  which  he  had  been  destined,  they 
cheerfully  argued  that  the  preliminary  training  and 
the  necessary  library  would  be  expensive,  success  un 
certain,  —  and  he  must  needs  live  pending  its  delay, 
—  the  tardy  emoluments  disproportioned  to  the  labor 
and  ability  involved.  Since  there  seemed  no  vacancy 
in  the  professorial  ranks  of  the  small  western  colleges, 
where  they  had  hoped  he  might  find  a  chair,  they 
spoke  of  him  as  having  fallen  upon  his  feet  when  the 
unusual  brilliancy  of  his  scholastic  record  brought 
him  the  offer  of  the  tutorship  of  the  three  sons  in  a 
wealthy  family,  dwelling  in  the  isolation  of  a  secluded 
Mississippi  plantation,  the  opportunity  coming  at  the 
ultimate  crisis  of  the  painful  financial  emergency. 

2 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

For  although  the  salary  was  small,  in  comparison  with 
the  allowance  which  the  generosity  of  his  father  had 
heretofore  afforded  an  only  son,  his  prospective  earn 
ings  would  have  abashed  the  honoraria  of  a  fledgeling 
lawyer's  professional  labors,  even  had  he  already  at 
tained  admission  to  the  bar.  Thus,  followed  by  few 
regrets,  the  last  month  of  the  year  found  him  arrived 
at  the  scene  of  his  pedagogical  work. 

"  It  is  Mrs.  Faurie's  chief  desire  that  her  sons  shall 
be  adequately  prepared  for  college.  She  is  a  great 
believer  in  individual  instruction  by  a  thoroughly 
competent  educator,  who  can  discern  and  —  ah  — 
strengthen  the  weaknesses,  and — ah  —  develop  special 
capacities  in  the  mind  of  youth,  —  ah,  yes  !  She  fears 
that  our  frequent  and  extended  tours  abroad  have 
cultivated  their  powers  of  superficial  observation  and 
love  of  travel  at  the  expense  of  their  love  of  study, 
and  —  ah  —  capacity  to  absorb  theories  and  to  con 
centrate  their  thoughts,  and  to  take  an  interest  in 
books,  and  —  nh — that  is  the  reason, —  one  of  the 
reasons,"  — with  a  bow  and  smile,  —  "  why  we  esteem 
ourselves  so  fortunate, —  so  very  fortunate  to  have 
you  with  us."  Nothing  could  be  more  suave  than  the 
old  gentleman  beaming  upon  him  from  the  foot  of 
the  table,  but  Edward  Desmond,  after  an  effort  at  a 
receptive  and  grateful  smile,  looked  down  at  his  fork 
and  turned  it  aimlessly  in  his  hand,  without  a  word 
in  response. 

He  had  had  full  range  of  the  pastures,  and  the 
harness  galled  him.  Yet  logically  he  could  not  find 
%ught  *)f  fault  in  this  smooth  courtesy  and  tone  of 

3 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

appreciation.  It  so  became  even  a  quasi-employer, 
though  conscious  of  his  magnanimity  and  sense  of 
noblesse  oblige.  The  fact  that  Desmond  had  grown 
gradually  aware  that  Mr.  Stanlett  was  but  basking  in 
the  reflection  of  his  niece's  splendors,  and,  although 
having  some  indeterminate  income  of  his  own,  was 
content  to  spend  the  evening  of  his  days  in  her  em 
bellished  entourage,  scarcely  mitigated  his  secret  dis 
pleasure.  He  felt  that  the  old  gentleman  assumed  a 
patronage  which  he  had  no  right  to  exercise.  Yet  this 
resentment  was  inconsistent  with  his  own  theory  that 
mere  money  had  no  title  to  homage  from  him.  Thus 
Mr.  Stanlett' s  patronage,  poor,  should  not  have  been 
less  acceptable  than  Mr.  Stanlett's  patronage,  rich. 
Mrs.  Faurie  had  not  hastened  to  make  Desmond  wel 
come,  but  indeed  he  had  been  in  the  house  only  for 
an  hour  or  so,  and  Mr.  Stanlett's  urbanity  was  surely 
expansive  enough  to  atone.  He  gave  the  newcomer 
his  choice  of  excuses  in  Mrs.  Faurie's  behalf :  first 
the  fatigue  of  a  long  drive,  and  again  he  mentioned 
a  sore  throat  as  her  reason  for  not  joining  the  group 
at  the  dinner-table.  "She  will  see  you  later  in  the 
evening,"  Mr.  Stanlett  promised. 

If  the  lady  did  not  choose  to  appear  at  her  own 
board  for  any  reason  which  might  seem  to  her  good 
and  sufficient,  Desmond  was  in  no  position  to  cavil, 
but  the  old  gentleman's  inadvertences  in  the  matter 
gave  him  an  impression  of  insincerity  about  the 
methods  of  the  household  which  grated  on  his  exact 
ing  and  sensitive  mood.  Even  the  manners  of  the 
domestics,  smooth,  and  deft,  and  obsequious  in  the 

4 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

extreme,  were  incongruous  with  the  veiled  scorn  of 
the  stranger,  as  a  man  of  scant  means,  which  he 
subtly  detected  in  their  eyes,  for,  the  servitors  of 
wealth  and  large  pretensions,  they  had  slight  tolera 
tion  of  poverty  out  of  their  own  rank  of  life.  He 
perceived,  too,  the  relish  which  Joel,  the  antiquated 
negro  butler,  took  in  the  elaboration  of  the  details  of 
the  daily  dinner  service,  especially  the  old-fashioned 
custom  of  removing  the  cloth  with  each  successive 
course,  which  was  so  deftly  accomplished,  revealing 
the  fresh  one  spread  below,  that  it  seemed  a  prandial 
miracle.  Mr.  Stanlett,  however,  apologized  in  some 
sort. 

"We  keep  up  the  old  style,  you  see.  My  niece 
says  she  despairs  of  ever  inducing  Joel  to  condescend 
to  one  cloth  for  the  table  at  dinner,  though  she 
brought  some  very  fancy  centrepieces  and  such  gim- 
cracks  from  Paris  expressly  to  stimulate  his  ambition 
for  novelty." 

Desmond  felt  little  drawn  toward  his  prospective 
pupils,  one  seated  beside  him  and  the  other  two 
opposite.  They  were  of  a  type  with  which  he  had 
scant  sympathy.  They  were  younger,  too,  than  he 
had  reason  to  expect  from  the  amount  of  the  salary 
and  his  own  scholastic  pretensions,  and  his  conse 
quence  seemed  further  diminished  in  that  he  should 
be  called  upon  to  teach  in  effect  mere  children. 
While  they  were  not  handsome  of  feature,  they  were 
extremely  handsomely  built  and  tall  for  their  re 
spective  ages ;  but  he  perceived  with  disapproval 
that  they  lacked  muscle.  They  were  very  apt  and 

5 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 


delicate  in  all  the  usages  of  the  table,  and  in  their 
elegant  nicety  of  attire  "mamma's  darling"  was  writ 
large.  They  all  had  good  eyes,  and  they  held  up 
their  heads  in  a  frank,  gentlemanlike  way ;  hut  their 
cosmopolitan  air,  their  easy  assurance,  their  ready 
phrasings  far  beyond  their  years,  though  evidently 
the  superficial  result  of  their  travels  and  their  pre 
cocious  relations  with  the  world,  did  not  serve  to 
commend  them  to  one  who  loved  a  boy  for  his  crude 
boyishness.  These  seemed  little  men  of  the  world, 
and  they  sat  smug  and  silent  and  looked  at  their 
great-uncle  with  faces  of  filial  gravity  when,  under 
the  influence  of  too  much  old  port,  he  began  to  show 
traits  of  the  ridiculous,  albeit  in  a  genteel  and  re 
fined  fashion.  Yet  Desmond  admitted  to  himself  that 
he  would  not  have  thought  it  becoming  that  they 
should  laugh.  The  clear  pallor  of  the  old  gentle 
man's  lean  face  grew  delicately  flushed.  His  white 
hair  was  sparse  on  his  long  head,  showing  its  bony 
structure.  He  had  a  white  mustache,  and  a  factitious 
idea  of  youth  was  suggested  by  the  gleam  of  a  very 
natural  set  of  false  teeth  beneath  it.  Presently  he 
began  to  hum,  as  if  absent-minded,  and  at  length  he 
sang  out :  — 

"  My  girl  so  fair,  my  friend  BO  rare, 
With  these  what  mortal  could  be  richer  ? 
Give  me  but  these,  —  a  fig  for  care, 
My  sweet  girl,  my  friend,  and  pitcher/' 

It  was  the  echo  of  what  had  been  a  very  pretty  tenor 
voice  in  its  prime,  and  its  resonant  vibrations  reached 
and  roused  a  parrot  asleep  in  a  cage,  hanging  in  a 

6 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

broad,  deep  bay-window.  The  bird  suddenly  fluffed 
its  feathers  and  sent  out  a  sharp,  harsh  cry ;  then, 
twisting  on  its  perch  and  swinging  inverted  by  one 
claw,  it  sang  with  a  painfully  realistic  imitation  and 
with  all  the  taunting  effect  of  mockery  :  — 

"  My  sweet  girl,  my  friend,  and  pitcher." 

It  was  too  much  for  the  decorum  of  the  youngest 
of  the  three  boys.  He  broke  into  an  irresistible  puer 
ile  cackle,  and  the  old  man,  catching  suddenly  to  his 
senses  and  his  sobriety,  flushed  deeply,  the  crimson 
stealing  through  his  sparse  white  hair  and  all  along 
his  polished  white  scalp. 

The  eldest  of  the  boys,  a  lad  of  fourteen,  came  at 
once  to  the  rescue  with  the  tact  of  a  Chesterfield,  as 
smooth  as  cream. 

"  The  idea  of  Polly  remembering  your  old  '  pitcher- 
song/  Uncle  Clarence,  —  that 's  quite  a  compliment. 
And  after  so  long  an  absence." 

"  Very  true,  —  very  true,"  said  the  old  gentleman, 
readily  reassured.  "  Pretty  Polly,"  —  smiling  blandly 
at  the  accomplished  fowl.  "  Want  a  cracker  ?  " 

"  My  pitcher,"  repeated  Polly,  as  if  with  the  inten 
tion  of  prompting  the  nature  of  the  refreshment. 

"  Why,  we  have  been  away  —  let  me  see  —  my 
memory  fails  me  about  these  little  details.  How  long 
were  we  in  Europe  this  time,  Reginald  ?  —  how  long 
is  it  since  Polly  heard  that  song  ?  " 

"  Eighteen  months,  Uncle  Clarence.  I  should  n't 
have  thought  Polly  capable  of  such  an  effort.  May 
we  be  excused,  sir?" 

7 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  Certainly  —  by  all  means."  Then,  turning  to 
Desmond,  "  I  don't  care  to  see  young  boys  linger  at 
the  table  after  the  cloth  is  drawn  and  the  bottle  is 
stirring  over  the  mahogany." 

The  disaffected  Desmond  thought  a  continuance 
here  might  prove  a  salutary  object-lesson  as  to  the 
pernicious  effects  of  vinous  indulgence,  and  his  eyes 
followed  with  no  great  favor  the  little  gentlemen  as, 
prettily  bowing,  they  nattily  made  their  exit.  Some 
how  he  was  reassured  to  hear  a  clumsy  shuffling  of 
feet  in  the  hall  as,  to  judge  by  auricular  evidence, 
they  engaged  in  a  scuffle  outside  the  closed  door. 
Suddenly  one  of  them  was  thrown  with  a  great  bang 
against  it,  —  then  an  abrupt  and  awe-stricken  silence 
ensued. 

"Eighteen  months,"  Mr.  Stanlett  repeated.  «I 
did  not  realize  the  length  of  our  absence.  In  truth," 
he  added,  with  a  spark  of  mischief  kindling  the  wine 
in  his  eyes,  "  we  stayed  as  long  as  we  could,  —  as  long 
as  our  money  held  out.  My  niece,  Mrs.  Faurie,  said 
that  she  had  run  the  full  length  of  her  tether.  You 
see,  Mr.  Desmond,"  —  his  voice  had  a  confidential 
intonation,  —  "by  the  provisions  of  the  will," — he 
spoke  as  if  it  were  the  sole  and  singular  testamentary 
document  in  human  experience,  —  "  Mrs.  Faurie  has 
a  large  income, — a  very  large  income, — but  she  can 
not  go  beyond  it,  —  she  cannot  touch  the  principal." 

Desmond  flushed  haughtily.  He  had  had  such  close 
dealings  with  debts  and  financial  distresses  and  sheer 
poverty  of  late,  nay,  of  rivings  and  wrestings  of  pos 
sessions  that  seemed  so  inalienably  his  own  as  to  give 

8 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

their  seizure  the  taint  of  robbery,  that  he  had  scant 
appetite  to  digest  the  prosperity  of  others,  and  he  was 
devoid  of  the  vulgar  vice  of  curiosity  which  might 
otherwise  have  stimulated  his  interest.  His  dark  blue 
eyes  were  on  the  vast,  murky  spread  of  the  Mississippi 
Eiver,  seen  through  the  window  beyond  a  group  of 
pecan  trees,  and  the  Arkansas  bank  opposite,  a  dirn 
line  of  dark  gray  against  the  fainter  gray  of  the  low 
and  clouded  sky.  His  closely  cut  chestnut  hair  showed 
the  contour  of  his  shapely  head.  His  tall,  strong  fig 
ure,  for  he  had  a  record  in  college  athletics  as  well 
as  less  esteemed  branches  of  learning,  had  a  supple 
grace  that  lent  an  air  of  distinction  to  the  well-fitting 
suit  of  gray  he  wore,  for  at  Great  Oaks  Plantation 
no  one  aifected  evening  dress  for  daily  dinner.  So 
quiet  was  Desmond  that  his  attitude  expressed  an 
attention  which  he  did  not  really  accord,  —  in  fact,  it 
was  divided  by  a  fear  that  in  Mr.  Stanlett's  garrulity 
he  was  liable  to  trench  too  far  on  the  private  affairs 
of  the  family.  However,  the  old  gentleman  occupied 
the  position  of  host  or  employer,  according  to  the 
viewpoint;  he  was  treated  with  filial  deference  by 
the  youthful  Fauries ;  he  had  received  the  tutor  with 
a  happy  blending  of  hospitality  and  authority,  and 
Desmond  hardly  knew  how  he  might  decorously 
evade  disclosures  of  bibulous  candor  which  he  was 
neither  entitled  nor  expected  to  hear. 

"  No,  sir,"  Mr.  Stanlett  repeated,  "  by  the  will  she 
cannot  touch  the  principal,  but  she  has  a  large  income, 
—  a  fixed  sum,  thirty  thousand  dollars  chargeable 
on  the  whole  estate,  and  in  addition  the  yield  of  this 

9 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Great  Oaks  Plantation,  which  varies  according  to  the 
season,  —  a  very  large  income, —  so  long  as  she  re 
mains  a  widow.  Yes,  sir !  —  a  widow  she  is,  and 
a  widow  she  must  continue !  Mr.  Faurie  was  a  very 
arbitrary  man  in  point  of  temper  —  where  are  those 
boys? — and  had  a  grudging  against  any  other  man's 
getting  a  chance  to  spend  his  money.  Notwithstand 
ing  the  losses  occasioned  by  the  Civil  War  and  the 
various  fluctuations  in  values  since,  Faurie  was  worth 
little  short  of  a  million  dollars  when  he  died.  He  had 
a  very  level  head.  He  made  a  remarkable  will, — a 
good,  safe,  sound,  able  document."  Mr.  Stanlett  had 
an  evident  relish  of  the  provisions  of  that  will,  —  a 
great  respect  for  it. 

"  She  could  dissent,  —  she  could  break  it,  I  sup 
pose."  Desmond  forced  himself  to  speak.  He  was 
not  to  have  the  typical  tutor's  mental  privacy,  ap 
parently.  By  reason  of  the  magnanimity  his  employ 
ers  intended  to  affect,  treating  him  according  to  his 
former  worldly  station  and  as  an  equal,  a  friend,  an 
honored  man  of  letters,  he  was  to  have  the  trial  of 
participating  in  their  social  life  as  at  a  Barmecide 
feast,  really  sharing  naught,  a  mere  figment  of  fra 
ternity  and  festivity. 

"  Break  the  will !  "  Mr.  Stanlett  skirled  in  dismay. 
"  Impossible  !  —  after  nearly  seven  years'  acquies 
cence.  But  if  she  could,  she  would  only  get  what  the 
will  gives  her  anyhow  in  the  event  of  a  second  mar 
riage,  —  simply  her  dower  rights  in  Tennessee,  —  one 
fourth  of  the  personalty,  a  life  interest  in  a  third  of 
the  realty  situated  there,  including  his  town  residence 

10 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

in  Nashville,  —  just  what  the  law  would  allow  her 
had  he  died  intestate, —  and  in  the  Mississippi  estate 
a  child's  part  in  fee  simple,  for  '  dower/  you  know,  is 
abolished  in  this  State,  and  the  law  always  follows  the 
location  of  the  realty.  But,  in  fact,  she  has  seemed 
perfectly  satisfied  with  the  arrangement,  —  as  indeed 
well  she  might  be !  I  fancy,  too,  that  she  has  had 
about  enough  of  matrimony.  She  likes  her  own  way, 
and  Mr.  Faurie  was  a  self-willed,  proud,  dictatorial  — 
are  those  boys  gone? — And  what  are  you  doing  there, 
Joel  ? "  glimpsing  the  butler,  standing  stiffly  near 
the  sideboard.  "Gimme  the  brandy  decanter.  Have 
some  cognac,  Mr.  Desmond.  Light  those  candles, 
Joel,  —  and  take  yourself  off.  Want  to  wait  on  the 
table  all  night?" 

Then  as  the  door  closed  noiselessly  on  the  accom 
plished  old  servant,  —  "  That  nigger  has  got  ears 
as  long  as  a  mule's,"  Mr.  Stanlett  commented  in  pa 
renthesis,  quaffed  from  his  glass,  sucked  in  his  thin 
lips  with  extreme  relish,  and  continued  his  confi 
dences. 

"  No,  —  my  niece's  position  under  the  will  cannot 
dispose  her  greatly  to  a  second  experiment  in  the  holy 
estate  of  matrimony.  Mr.  Faurie  was  considerably  her 
senior,  —  in  fact,  he  was  quite  an  old  bachelor,  you 
might  say,  when  they  were  married.  How  much  older 
he  was  /  never  knew,  for  she  would  not  tolerate  any 
mention  of  the  disparity  in  years,  —  though  Faurie 
himself,  who  was  a  very  stylish,  impressive  man,  was 
too  vain  and  arrogant  to  care  one  whit  for  it.  Why," 
—  lowering  his  voice  sepulchrally,  —  "when  he  died, 

11 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

I  could  n't  mention  his  age  in  preparing  the  news 
paper  announcements  because  /  never  knew  it." 

He  looked  hard  at  Desmond  and  nodded  his  head 
significantly.  "  Now,  don't  you  know  that  people 
thought  that  was  funny?  " 

He  paused  to  light  a  cigar,  having  pushed  the 
tray  over  to  Desmond.  "  Yes,"  he  resumed  puffingly, 
"  as  my  niece  says,  we  stayed  in  Europe  as  long  as 
our  money  lasted.  We  had  a  fine  time,  went  every 
where,  saw  everything,  were  feted  and  made  much 
of  to  our  hearts'  content,  —  could  have  married  into 
the  nobility  more  than  once,  for"  —  the  candle-light 
illumined  the  freakish  slyness  and  glee  in  his  senile 
smile  — "  people  over  there  don't  know  how  the 
will  is  fixed  in  regard  to  a  second  marriage.  No  ! 
pledge  you  my  honor !  They  only  saw  the  royal  way 
in  which  Mrs.  Faurie  can  spend  money.  Now,"  he 
broke  out  into  a  chirping  laugh  of  relish  of  the 
incongruity,  "  my  niece  says  that  she  does  n't  know 
how  she  can  make  both  ends  meet  till  her  next  year's 
income  begins  to  accrue.  Ha !  ha  !  We  are  to  stay 
down  here  in  the  swamp  till  the  hot  weather  runs  us 
out,  and  then  we  shall  go  down  to  the  Gulf  coast, — 
find  some  cheap  little  place  near  Biloxi  or  Pass  Chris 
tian,  and  ah  —  ah  "  —  he  waved  the  cloud  of  cigar 
smoke  from  above  his  venerable  head  —  "  and  I  for 
one  wish  that  time  were  come.  You  see  plantation 
life  is  a  sort  of  syncope  at  best, — that  is,  hereabouts. 
Further  down  the  river,  though,  things  are  livelier. 
In  Louisiana,  now,  the  people  are  of  a  different 
disposition  :  they  go  about,  visit  each  other ;  they 

12 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

make  festival  occasions ;  they  are  of  French  extrac 
tion  ;  they  have  the  light  heart  and  the  happy  hand. 
Nothing  can  subdue  the  old  Gallic  gaiete  de  cceur, 
not  even  the  swamp  country.  But  all  this  upper 
region  of  ours  was  settled  by  people  from  Tennes 
see,  Virginia,  and  Kentucky,  —  about  the  time  that 
the  mania  for  raising  cotton  in  the  bottom  lands 
of  Mississippi  took  hold  on  the  progressive  planters 
of  the  Border  States.  We  have  got  our  inherited 
English  temperament  to  reckon  with,  our  seriousness, 
our  stolidity,  our  inability  to  be  amused  by  a  trifle, 
like  a  kitten  with  a  string,  or  a  Creole.  And,  too,  it  is 
a  matter  of  neighborhood,  —  we  are  only  a  few  hun 
dred  miles  from  Memphis,  counting  by  the  crank- 
ings  of  the  river,  all  our  associations  are  with  the 
Border  States,  and  we  are  out  of  ear-shot  of  the  lively 
Creoles.  I  am  afraid  you  will  find  it  very  dull  here, 
Mr.  Desmond,  way  down  in  the  swamp."  He  had  evi 
dently  forgotten  the  fact  that  his  companion  was 
not  a  guest. 

"  I  am  not  here  for  pleasure,  you  know,"  Desmond 
reminded  him. 

"  True,  —  oh,  yes,  —  very  true,  —  the  boys,  —  their 
education.  But  you  are  so  like"  —  Desmond  thought 
that  he  was  about  to  say  "  one  of  ourselves,"  but 
perhaps  he  was  supersensitive  —  "ah — so  very  like  a 
collegian  yourself,  that  I  forget  you  occupy  the  rev 
erend  position  of  tutor.  The  boys  have  a  good  start 
in  the  modern  languages  —  that  is,  they  can  gabble 
fast  enough  —  their  mother's  wanderings  made  them 
regular  polyglots  —  they  had  native  teachers  at  every 

13 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

stoppage  ;  but  I  reckon  you  will  find  them  poor  shakes 
in  the  rudiments  of  natural  science,  mathematics,  rhe 
toric,  Latin,  and  so  forth,  and  I  suppose  that  in  spite 
of  their  colloquial  glibness,  they  know  little  of  the 
construction  of  the  foreign  languages.  Mrs.  Faurie  is 
very  anxious  for  their  solid  advancement.  And  she  is 
determined  to  make  this  enforced  quiet  recruit  both 
her  fortune  and  their  education.  So  glad  to  have  you 
here,  Mr.  Desmond,  —  so  glad  to  have  you  with  us." 
He  hesitated,  waved  the  smoke  from  his  white  head, 
and  once  more  filled  his  glass  from  the  decanter.  It 
was  a  small  liqueur  glass,  but  its  size  was  not  commen 
surate  with  the  potations  to  which  it  ministered,  for 
it  was  easily  replenished,  and  of  course  he  drank  his 
Cognac  neat.  Desmond  began  to  have  a  shrewd  idea, 
partly  because  the  tiny  glass  had  been  intended  for  a 
mere  sip  of  Curagoa,  that  had  Mrs.  Faurie  been  present 
at  dinner,  the  bibulous  exercises  would  have  been  much 
curtailed.  He  was  experiencing  some  embarrassment 
in  thus  lingering  over  the  potations,  for  he  had  arrived 
only  that  afternoon,  and  had  never  met  Mrs.  Faurie, 
having  been  employed  by  Mr.  Keith,  the  guardian 
of  her  sons.  Desmond  was  solicitous  lest  the  breach 
of  etiquette  and  good  manners  be  imputed  to  his 
connivance.  Perhaps  Mr.  Stanlett's  proclivity  was 
known  to  his  niece,  but  he  must  seldom  have  such 
complete  immunity  from  remonstrance  and  caution. 
While  the  old  gentleman's  vinous  indulgence  and 
senile  impairments  would  suggest  that  his  preferences 
might  with  impunity  be  set  aside  in  such  an  emer 
gency,  the  evident  appreciation  and  deference  with 

14 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

which  he  was  treated  implied  that  he  was  a  person  to 
be  reckoned  with.  Desmond  dared  not  himself  pro 
pose  to  quit  the  table:  the  gaucherie  would  undoubt 
edly  offend  the  old  gentleman  as  an  intentional  disre 
spect.  Yet  the  tutor  really  felt  that  by  thus  lingering 
he  jeopardized  all  his  prospects  with  that  far  more 
important  personage,  the  lady  of  Great  Oaks  and  the 
head  of  the  family.  Distasteful  as  was  his  position  to 
him,  he  valued  it  exceedingly  the  moment  it  was  threat 
ened,  as  the  only  opportunity  that  had  offered  at  his 
utmost  need.  He  had  been  positively  penniless  at  the 
crisis  of  his  disasters.  Even  had  he  completed  his  law 
course,  he  must  have  had  means  to  live  while  he  waited 
for  a  practice  to  accrue.  He  had  no  commercial  experi 
ence  or  aptitudes.  He  had  no  available  business  con 
nections.  Perhaps  few  people  realize  the  difficulty 
of  leaping  into  a  paying  position  at  a  vault,  instead 
of  growing  and  climbing  up  with  it  from  the  ground. 
All  values  seem  accessible  only  per  ambages.  A  mo 
ment  earlier  he  had  been  recoiling  from  the  employ 
ment,  the  situation  he  liked  so  ill,  and  now  he  was  ask 
ing  himself  if  he  were  desirous  of  standing  behind  a  dry 
goods  counter  in  a  village  store,  that  he  could  afford 
to  make  his  entry  into  Mrs.  Faurie's  household  under 
circumstances  so  inauspicious,  —  carousing  over  the 
dinner-table  with  a  man,  not  his  host,  obviously  super 
annuated,  in  a  sort  irresponsible,  unable  perhaps  to 
justify  his  own  dereliction,  much  less  the  infringe 
ment  of  decorum  by  the  tutor.  The  village  store,  — 
quotha !  No  refuge  awaited  him  there.  He  did  not 
know  insertion  from  indigo.  He  had  fallen  into  his 

15 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

niche,  his  proper  place,  and  with  a  sudden  sense  of 
prizing  its  values,  he  quitted  his  chair.  Not  to  leave 
the  room  abruptly  and  at  once,  however.  The  crisis 
had  called  his  tact  into  play.  He  walked  toward  the 
mantelpiece  as  if  to  scrutinize  the  picture  above  it 
and  thus  pave  the  way  to  an  easy  withdrawal. 

"Take  the  candle  to  it,  —  take  the  candle  to  it. 
That  is  Faurie  himself  when  he  was  about  sixteen, — 
do  not  know  how  long  ago  it  was  painted,  though  ! 
But  the  length  of  that  rifle  is  a  dead  give-away/' 
cried  Mr.  Stanlett,  from  the  table,  his  glass  in  his 
hand. 

As  Desmond  lifted  one  of  the  candles,  the  light 
revealed  a  large  oil-painting  executed  in  the  florid 
portrait  style  of  the  middle  nineteenth  century, — a 
crowded  canvas  it  was,  showing  a  fair,  vigorous  young 
stripling  leaning  on  his  gun,  a  horse  and  foliage  in 
the  distance,  a  deer,  with  only  the  fine  head  visible, 
gray  and  an  tiered,  lying  at  the  sportsman's  feet;  — 
the  frame,  inclosing  all,  very  handsome.  There  were 
some  other  pieces  in  the  room,  which  was  large,  square, 
and  high-ceiled,  all  suggestive  of  game,  and  the  fact 
that  the  late  Mr.  Faurie  may  have  been  a  bon-vivant. 
One,  a  dainty  water-color  sketch  of  a  piscatorial  sub 
ject,  the  catfish  of  the  Mississippi,  bore  the  marks 
of  the  hand  of  a  clever  amateur. 

The  wall-paper  was  dimly  pictorial,  after  the  style 
of  even  an  earlier  day,  a  melange  of  forest  boughs 
and  boles  of  great  trees  through  which  a  shadowy 
outline  of  the  figures  of  a  chase  sped,  with  deer, 
hounds,  horsemen,  huntsmen,  and  horns,  of  "  elf- 

16 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

land  faintly  blowing."  A  great,  dark,  mahogany  press 
showed  through  small  diamonded  panes  rows  of  silver 
vessels,  glistering  in  the  dusk,  which  neither  the  flicker 
of  the  candle  nor  the  twilight  glimmer  from  the  great 
windows  could  annul.  Several  of  the  large  cups  bore 
inscriptions,  and  he  thought  they  looked  at  the  dis 
tance  like  trophies  captured  by  some  winner  of  the 
turf.  As  Desmond  turned  to  ask  the  question,  he 
perceived  that  the  old  man  had  sunk  back  in  his  tall 
armchair,  his  delicate  face,  still  in  slumber,  keenly 
outlined  against  the  cushion  of  its  head-rest  in  the 
clear,  refined  light  of  the  candle  close  at  hand,  his 
white  hair  gleaming  frostily. 

Desmond  stood  uncertain  for  a  moment.  He  saw 
through  the  bay-window  that  the  night  was  falling 
fast  without.  But  for  the  flicker  of  the  moon,  he 
mi^ht  not  have  known  how  the  great  Mississippi  rip- 
pi  id  and  sparkled  under  the  currents  of  the  wind. 
The  passing  of  the  first  steamboat  that  he  had  yet 
seen  he  marked  by  her  chimney-lamps,  red  and  green, 
swinging  high  in  the  air,  and  their  reflection,  ruby 
and  emerald,  gemming  the  water.  As  she  sheered,  she 
slr>  ved  the  long  line  of  her  side-lights,  like  a  string  of 
yci  o\v  topazes.  She  did  not  turn  nor  approach,  but 
8O!;;uled  her  whistle  as  if  for  a  landing,  and  he  won 
dered  at  this.  The  boat  was  saluting  the  place  by  way 
of  compliment,  for  it  was  known  that  the  queen  was 
ID  residence,  so  to  speak,  and  Mrs.  Faurie  shipped 
much  cotton  from  the  contemned  and  avoided  plan 
tation  in  the  old  way  by  water,  for  the  almost  omni 
present  railroads  were  still  distant  from  Great  Oaks 

17 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Landing.  Presently  the  lights  were  quenched,  the 
craft  had  passed  beyond  his  view,  the  moon  was  over 
cast,  and  only  the  gray  night  was  visible  from  the 
window.  Desmond  seized  his  opportunity  for  escape. 
He  placed  the  candle  he  held  upon  the  table,  and 
with  a  noiseless  step  and  a  furtive,  apprehensive  eye, 
as  if  the  exacting  old  gentleman  might  rouse  to  dis 
pleasure  and  reproach  at  a  mere  rustle,  he  quitted  the 
room,  leaving  his  companion,  his  empty  glass  still 
poised  in  his  hand,  asleep  in  his  chair. 

The  mansion  at  Great  Oaks  Plantation  was  as  ill- 
lighted  by  night  as  are  most  residences  dependent 
still  on  candle  and  kerosene.  Unless,  indeed,  some 
festival  occasion  demanded  extra  brilliancy,  only  the 
gleam  from  the  chandelier  in  the  main  hall  guided 
the  exit  from  the  dining-room  through  a  cross-hall, 
the  entry,  so  called.  Desmond  had  not  the  necessity 
for  wariness  that  might  have  befitted  the  steps  of 
Mr.  Stanlett,  but  he  paused  in  the  dim  entry,  mark 
ing  the  subdued  glow  at  the  intersection  with  the 
main  hall,  then  carefully  directed  his  steps  thither. 
Even  thus  he  ran  over  the  "  bike  "  of  one  of  the 
boys,  inadvertently  placed  where  it  might  most  op 
portunely  trip  the  unsuspecting  pedestrian  in  these 
glooms,  and  threw  it  upon  the  floor  with  a  tremen 
dous  clatter.  To  his  vexation  he  heard  a  door  open 
in  the  hall  beyond  and  a  feminine  voice  call  out 
unintelligibly,  whether  in  inquiry  or  warning  or 
commiseration  he  did  not  accurately  discern  in  his 
confusion.  He  hastily  set  the  wheel  out  of  harm's 
way  against  the  wall,  and  with  a  swift,  prompt  step 

18 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

advanced  up  the  lighted  hall  toward  the  open  door, 
which  he  perceived  led  into  the  parlor  where  he  had 
been  received  earlier  in  the  afternoon.  A  large  lamp 
on  a  high,  old-fashioned  pedestal  stood  on  a  round, 
marble-topped  centre  table ;  a  wood  fire  blazed  with  a 
white  light  in  the  great  chimney-place,  and  the  brass 
andirons  and  fender  glittered  responsively ;  an  old- 
fashioned  crimson  velvet  carpet  was  on  the  floor,  and 
long  crimson  satin  damask  curtains  hung  over  lace 
draperies  at  the  windows.  In  the  midst  of  this  atmos 
phere  of  glow  and  warmth  the  lady  of  Great  Oaks 
stood  with  expectant  mien,  awaiting  him. 

Somehow  she  was  so  different  from  his  mental 
image,  from  what  he  was  prepared  to  see,  that  he 
was  disconcerted  for  a  moment.  He  had  imagined  a 
middle-aged  frump  favored  by  fortune,  portly,  puffy, 
rubicund,  overfed,  overdressed,  bursting  with  self-im 
portance,  smiling  in  creases,  of  husky  voice  and  fixed 
opinions,  and  laying  down  the  law.  This  was  a  woman 
seemingly  as  young  as  himself ;  tall,  slender,  regal, 
with  rich  brown  hair  in  a  high  pompadour  roll,  an 
exquisitely  white,  delicate  complexion,  luminous  gray 
eyes,  with  a  marvelous  capacity  for  expression,  a  clear, 
coercive  glance  delivered  from  beneath  long  black 
eyelashes,  and  finely  drawn  black  eyebrows,  perfectly 
straight.  She  wore  a  gown  of  thick,  creamy  lace,  some 
fabric  rich  of  effect  though  not  of  commensurate  cost, 
one  of  the  pretty  fads  of  the  day,  and  about  her  slim 
waist  was  twisted  a  soft,  silken  sash  in  Roman  stripes 
of  pink  and  azure  and  amber,  the  long  ends  hanging 
knotted  at  one  side.  The  sentiment  of  youth  that 

19 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

clung  about  her  presence  was  oddly  incongruous  with 
her  assured  address,  replete  with  authority  and  the 
manner  of  seniority. 

"  This  is  Mr.  Desmond,"  she  said,  in  a  clear,  dulcet, 
vibratory  voice,  as  she  advanced  and  held  out  her 
hand.  "  So  sorry  not  to  have  met  you  at  dinner ! 
But  I  am  sure  the  rest  did  what  they  could  for  you. 
We  are  all  so  glad  to  have  you  here." 

He  seated  himself  in  the  fauteuil  she  indicated,  and 
she  sank  down  into  one  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
table  in  the  blended  light  of  lamp  and  fire.  She  fixed 
her  disconcerting  eyes  full  upon  him,  as  if  utterly 
unaware  of  their  bewildering  beauty,  gravely  scruti 
nizing  him,  evidently  "sizing  him  up,"  taking  her 
impressions  of  his  mental  quality  and  personal  fitness 
for  the  position. 

"  There  are  many  places  on  the  river  which  are 
very  attractive.  But  we  are  differently  situated.  We 
are  so  far  from  any  neighbors,  —  quite  isolated.  It 
really  seems  a  godsend  that  you  are  willing  to  come 
to  us  in  the  swamp." 

As  she  talked  on  her  homely  themes,  he  was  irri 
tated  to  be  so  tongue-tied,  but  somehow  he  could  not 

O  ' 

reconcile  the  situation ;  and  as  she  looked  straight  at 
him  from  beneath  those  level  brows,  he  gazed  spell 
bound  at  her. 

"My  three  big  babies  are  too  old  for  the  nest,  I 
know,  and  in  fact  they  are  toppling  out.  But  I  can't 
bear  to  send  them  off  as  yet,  and  I  have  great  faith 
in  home  influence  and  individual  teaching." 

Desmond  thought  if  he  could  but  shut  his  eyes  for 

20 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

one  moment,  he  could  see  the  kind  of  frump  whom 
her  sage,  staid  discourse  would  befit. 

"I  think  they  can  be  prepared  here  for  college, — 
right  here  in  the  swamp  with  me,  —  and  then  —  why, 
we  shall  see  what  we  shall  see.  And  now,  good-night. 
I  will  not  detain  you."  She  touched  a  bell,  and  as 
the  brisk  young  footman's  black  face  appeared  in  the 
door, — "  See  that  the  lamp  is  lighted  in  Mr.  Desmond's 
room,  and  that  the  fire  is  burning  well." 


CHAPTER  II 

ESMOND,  dismissed,  felt  cut  through  and  through. 
It  was  no  failure  of  courtesy,  but  the  note  of  indif 
ference,  of  complete  self -absorption,  impressed  him; 
yet  how  could  he  expect  Mrs.  Faurie  to  be  interested 
in  her  sons'  tutor  except  from  her  own  viewpoint.  To 
his  apprehension  it  was  as  if  in  some  psychic  magic  he 
had  shifted  his  identity.  He  did  not  recognize  him 
self  in  this  null,  unassertive  personality.  So  lately  he 
had  been  the  centre  of  fond  hopes,  the  pride  of  his 
father's  life.  He  was  an  object  of  mark  at  his  uni 
versity  ;  his  scholarship  had  been  worthy  the  respect 
of  the  faculty.  He  recalled  the  words  of  their  glow 
ing  commendations  with  a  sort  of  pained  wonder  that 
they  had  ever  been  addressed  to  him.  The  president 
himself  had  not  deemed  it  ill-advised  to  say,  "  With 
your  equipment  and  your  fine  talents,  we  must  expect 
great  things  of  your  future.  Your  name  will  reflect 
credit  on  our  Alma  Mater ;  I  confidently  believe  it 
will  stand  high  on  the  scroll."  His  classmates  rejoiced 
in  his  exceptional  record,  so  far  removed  he  was  from 
envy  or  detraction.  His  popularity  was  unbounded, 
for  he  had  an  attractive  personality  and  all  the  effer 
vescence  of  cheery  youth  and  good-fellowship,  and 
his  notability  made  him  a  lion  in  the  social  circles  of 
the  college  town.  His  reputation  followed  him  wher 
ever  he  and  his  multitude  of  young  friends  had  a  con 
nection  ;  and  he  had  enjoyed  all  the  prestige  of  actual 

22 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

achievement,  so  amply  did  the  flowering  promise  herald 
the  rich  fruition. 

How  small  was  that  microcosm  of  college  life,  how 
far  removed  from  the  actualities  of  the  great  unin- 
structed,  prosperous  world,  blundering  on  in  suave 
content,  with  its  crass  ignorance  of  all  but  money 
values,  he  learned  only  when  the  blow  fell  and  he 
must  needs  have  work,  and  work  at  once,  for  his  daily 
bread.  He  might  look  in  vain  for  market  quotations  on 
Greek.  There  was  no  corner  in  Old  Saxon, — modern 
slang  could  better  turn  the  trick  on  'Change.  The 
opportunities  that  lay  in  the  line  of  pedagogy  were 
already  overcrowded  ;  and  thus  instead  of  that  road  to 
the  stars,  to  worthy  achievement,  for  which  he  had 
so  long  and  so  laboriously  prepared,  for  which  he  was 
so  preeminently  fitted,  he  was  to  trudge  the  by-paths 
of  hopeless  poverty ;  to  be  the  drudging,  f  utureless  sti- 
pen  diary  in  a  rich,  frivolous  household,  teaching  three 
mollycoddle  boys,  buried  in  the  seclusion  of  the  Missis 
sippi  bottom  lands,  as  if  translated  to  another  sphere. 

With  these  thoughts  Desmond  lay  long  awake  that 
night.  He  mechanically  watched  the  flicker  of  the 
fire  on  the  light  paper  of  the  walls  of  the  large,  airy 
room,  giving  out  here  and  there  a  sparkle  of  gilt  from 
the  scroll  design,  till  it  dulled  gradually,  and  at  length 
faded  to  a  pervasive  dusky  red  glow.  He  was  not 
used  to  a  bed  with  the  old-fashioned  tester  and  four 
posts,  and  when  he  was  about  to  fall  asleep,  he  was 
roused  by  the  unaccustomed  sense  of  something  poised 
above  his  head,  or  standing  solemnly  sentinel,  sur 
rounding  him  as  he  lay.  He  was  not  sorry  when  the 

23 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

room  grew  too  dark  for  aught  to  be  seen  but  the  gray 
night  looking  in  between  the  long  white  curtains  at  the 
tall  windows.  Yet  the  hours  brought  incidents  even 
in  the  monotony.  He  was  apprised  that  he  was  on 
the  side  of  the  house  nearest  the  river  when  he  saw 
through  the  small  panes  the  sudden  distant  glare  of  a 
steamboat's  electric  search-light,  making  a  rayonnant 
halo  in  the  dim  glooms  of  the  riparian  midnight,  and 
heard  the  husky,  remonstrant  tones  of  her  whistle, 
and  the  impact  of  "the  buckets"  on  the  water  as  the 
wheels  revolved.  He  was  not  yet  sufficiently  familiar 
with  the  plan  of  the  house  to  have  otherwise  known 
of  his  proximity  to  the  bank ;  but  after  the  boat  had 
passed  and  the  last  vague  echo  of  the  stroke  of  the 
paddles  on  the  water  had  died  away,  he  was  impressed 
by  the  silence  of  the  night  and  the  absolutely  noise 
less  flow  of  the  swift  currents  of  the  great  river.  It 
dismayed  him  in  some  sort,  the  sense  of  that  mighty, 
irresistible,  mute,  moving  force  of  nature  out  there 
in  the  still  night,  as  changeful  as  life,  as  inexorable 
as  fate,  as  ceaseless  as  eternity.  He  had  felt  small, 
reduced  in  worldly  esteem,  robbed  of  every  prospect, 
and  he  had  no  heart  to  hope.  With  this  expression 
of  silent,  majestic  immensity  brought  to  his  contem 
plation,  he  seemed  infinitely  minute  in  the  scheme  of 
creation.  So  long  had  it  rolled  its  waves  from  the  far 
north  to  the  Gulf;  nations  had  risen  on  its  banks  and 
passed  away,  and  strangers  had  come  anew  to  die  and 
be  succeeded  in  turn  by  foreign  faces  still,  and  what 
mattered  it  what  an  atom  such  as  he  might  suffer,  or 
hope,  or  grieve  to  lose. 

24 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

He  could  not  sleep ;  he  had  desisted  from  the  con 
scious  effort;  he  had  resigned  himself  to  the  wake- 
fulness  embittered  by  such  thoughts  as  these.  It  had 
grown  dark,  quite  dark,  —  the  windows,  vague  paral 
lelograms  in  the  gloom,  more  distinguished  by  his 
memory  of  the  features  of  the  room  than  by  actual 
sight,  —  when  he  heard  a  sound  that  somehow  thrilled 
his  every  nerve.  Hardly  a  sound,  —  it  was  rather  a 
sibilance.  But  for  the  intense  stillness  of  the  house 
he  could  not  have  noticed  it,  —  a  mere  rustle. 

"What  is  it?"  he  asked  himself,  intent  and  curi 
ous.  For  when  it  vaguely  came  again,  it  conveyed 
the  sense  of  motion;  it  suggested  a  varying  distance. 
Once  more  his  straining  senses  caught  the  sound, — 
very  soft  it  was.  Furtive,  was  it,  he  wondered,  for  he 
had  identified  it  as  the  lisping  note  of  a  sliding  foot 
on  a  velvet  carpet.  At  first  he  thought  it  within  his 
own  room,  but  as  it  receded  at  regular  intervals,  he 
realized  it  as  a  step  on  the  stair  without.  He  began 
to  appreciate  that  the  head  of  his  bed  was  against 
the  wall,  on  the  other  side  of  which  this  stair  ascended 
to  the  upper  story,  for  his  room  was  on  the  ground 
floor  of  the  great,  rambling  house.  He  thus  caught 
the  vague  vibration  of  motion,  as  well  as  the  susurrus 
of  the  impact  of  the  step  on  the  pile  of  the  carpet; 
otherwise  he  might  not  have  distinguished  so  cautious, 
so  very  silent  a  transit.  It  had  peculiar  features  of 
mystery.  It  receded  into  absolute  quiet,  then,  ap 
proaching  anew,  seemed  to  pass. 

A  long  interval  ensued  while  he  lay  still,  the  in 
terest  of  his  surmise,  the  doubt,  the  surprise,  solacing 

25 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPP  i  AN 

his  wakeful  mood.  Suddenly  he  started  with  a  thrill 
that  sought  out  some  nerve  of  superstition  which  had 
contrived  to  coexist  with  all  the  logic  of  his  mental 
training.  It  was  coming  again,  softly,  very  softly,  its 
sibilant  passage  scarcely  to  be  discriminated  even  in 
the  silence  of  the  night,  ascending  once  more  the 
padded  velvet  stair.  Then  Desmond  fancied  that  he 
heard  a  long-drawn  breath,  a  stifled  sigh.  He  lifted 
himself  on  his  elbow,  listening  intently.  The  fur 
tive  step  receded  and  yet  receded,  till  it  had  won 
the  distance  that  the  ear  might  not  reach.  A  long 
interval  of  absolute  silence  once  more  ensued.  Then 
abruptly,  again,  a  muffled  step  descending,  softly, 
secretly. 

With  a  sudden  thought  Desmond  sprang  to  his 
feet.  His  first  idea  of  the  passing  of  some  member  of 
the  family  to  the  upper  regions  of  the  house  on  some 
domestic  errand,  for  extra  coverings  or  for  medicine 
or  lamps,  was  annulled  by  the  amazing  silence  and 
secrecy  of  the  recurrent  demonstration.  Its  repetition 
implied  purpose.  Its  furtiveness  suggested  malignity. 
He  reflected  that,  so  far  as  he  knew,  the  inmates  of 
the  house,  with  one  feeble  old  man  and  three  young 
boys,  were  all  inadequate  to  cope  with  the  intrusion 
of  burglars  or  other  marauders.  He  flung  the  door  of 
the  bedroom  open  and  stood  in  the  hall,  his  pistol  in 
his  hand. 

"Who  is  there?"  he  called  out,  his  voice  ringing 
through  the  darkness  like  a  clarion. 

There  was  not  a  sound  in  response,  not  a  stir. 

"Speak  up,"  he  threatened,  "or  I'll  fire."  The 

26 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

metallic  click  of  the  weapon  as  he  cocked  it  was  of 
coercive  intimations. 

Still  not  a  sound,  not  a  stir.  No  scurrying  footstep 
to  be  out  of  harm's  way,  —  no  premonition  of  the  at 
tack  for  which  he  was  prepared,  shifting  his  posture 
each  time  after  he  spoke,  to  escape  a  shot  that  might 
be  aimed  at  the  sound  of  his  voice  in  the  darkness. 
Nothing  —  the  hall  was  absolutely  vacant,  silent. 

He  stood  irresolute  for  a  moment.  He  scarcely 
dared  turn  to  secure  a  light  lest  the  lurking  intruder 
escape  in  the  interval  of  his  absence.  Yet  when  he 
heard  a  stir  in  a  room  farther  down  the  hall,  the 
sound  of  bare  feet  bouncing  out  of  bed,  the  opening 
of  a  door  heralding  a  trickling  of  candle-light  into 
the  gloom,  he  was  all  at  once  ashamed  of  the  com 
motion  he  had  aroused  and  its  apparent  lack  of  jus 
tification. 

As  the  light  advanced  along  the  hall,  he  was  pleased 
to  see  that  it  was  held  in  the  hand  of  Reginald 
Faurie,  the  eldest  of  the  three  boys ;  the  old  man  was 
too  feebly  irresponsible  to  be  trusted,  and  he  was 
glad  that  he  had  not  aroused  Mrs.  Faurie.  But  as  the 
young  fellow  held  the  candle  high  in  his  hand,  the 
light  showing  his  tousled  auburn  hair  and  his  pink 
and  white  striped  pajamas,  the  expression  of  his  face, 
distinct  in  the  glow,  was  not  such  as  to  ingratiate  the 
future  pupil  with  the  tutor.  It  was  of  half-repressed 
mirth ;  yet  Reginald  paused  once,  and  looked  over 
his  shoulder  into  the  shadow  with  the  half  shudder 
of  a  qualm  of  cold  fright.  He  showed  no  disposition 
to  search  for  the  cause  of  the  disturbance,  however, 

27 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

and  he  cut  short  Desmond's  excited  attempt  at  ex 
planation  as  of  no  importance. 

"Let  me  in  here  with  you  for  a  moment,"  Regi 
nald  said.  "Don't  want  to  wake  up  the  kids!  Yes, 
-  yes,"  —  with  a  mature  air  of   patronage,  —  "I 
know  exactly  what  you  heard,  —  old  Slip-Slinksy,  as 
we  boys  call  him,  going  up  and  down  stairs." 

The  coolness  with  which  he  shut  the  door,  placed 
the  candle  on  the  high,  white,  painted  mantelpiece, 
and  sought  to  stir  the  fire  was  proof  positive  that 
there  was  no  intruder  to  be  reckoned  with.  Desmond 
yielded  reluctantly.  But  it  was  the  house  of  a  stranger, 
and  he  was  unused  to  his  surroundings.  He  stood  in 
his  bath-robe,  which  he  had  flung  on  at  the  first  alarm, 
and  leaned  on  the  high  back  of  a  chair,  while  Regi 
nald  set  the  blazes  to  flaring  in  the  great  fireplace, 
then  dropped  down  on  the  rug  and  put  the  pointed 
toes  of  his  bedroom  slippers  against  the  brass  fender, 
evidently  preparing  to  elucidate  the  mystery. 

"  I  know  you  '11  think  I  'm  loony,  —  I  hate  to 
give  myself  away  !  But  you  are  one  of  the  solid,  sci 
entific,  investigating  kind,  I  'm  sure.  You  will  make 
inquiries,  I  know,  and  I  don't  want  mamma  to  learn 
that  old  Slip-Slinksy  is  at  his  queer  tricks  again.  She 
is  not  a  bit  superstitious,  —  no  sort  of  a  crank,  — 
but  it  is  a  creepy,  inexplicable  kind  of  thing  that  one 
does  n't  like  to  have  in  one's  house,  and  it  would 
make  her  hate  the  plantation  worse  than  ever ;  and 
as  she  has  got  to  stay  at  Great  Oaks  for  a  while,  I 
think  she  had  better  not  hear  about  this  demonstra 
tion  to-night." 

28 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"But  who  is  it?"  asked  Desmond,  mystified. 

"  Nobody,  —  just  nothing  at  all !  " 

Desmond  walked  around  the  chair,  and,  seating 
himself  in  the  renewed  radiance  of  the  fire,  drew  the 
folds  of  his  bath-robe  close  about  him.  He  bent  the 
brows  of  prospective  authority  upon  Reginald,  and 
the  lad  sought  to  explain. 

"  What  is  a  ghost  but  nothing  at  all !  —  its  empti 
ness  is  what  gets  on  your  nerves.  You  can  take  your 
gun,  as  you  did  to-night,  to  the  wicked  man  when  he 
gets  gay  or  out  of  place,  —  as  long  as  he  is  alive. 
But  once  a  deader,  and  he  has  got  you.  I  'd  like  to 
hear  your  learned  chemical  analysis  of  a  ghost.  It  is 
compounded  of  a  winter  night's  imaginings !  It 's 
an  untimely  shiver !  It 's  the  tremors  of  hearing  a 
storm  coming  down  the  Mississippi  River  and  mak 
ing  all  the  boats  tie  up  for  the  night !  It 's  old  Slip- 
Slinksy  doing  nothing  but  going  upstairs  and  com 
ing  down  again.  I  don't  know  what  on  earth  started 
it,  but  that  is  our  ghost,  and  we  have  got  it  for 
keeps." 

"  Fudge ! "  exclaimed  Desmond,  contemptuously. 

"You  heard  it,"  said  the  boy,  significantly.  "I 
did  not." 

Desmond  had  heard  the  strange  manifestation, 
knowing  naught  of  it  hitherto.  He  remembered  the 
unearthly  thrill  its  first  intimations  had  sent  through 
every  startled  fibre.  "  But  it  must  have  some  natural 
explanation,  of  course." 

"  I  am  sure  I  hope  so,"  rejoined  Reginald.  "  But 
the  natural  explanation  has  defied  us  so  far.  We 

29 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

have  done  our  little  possible  to  solve  the  mystery. 
We  have  examined  the  walls  and  roof ;  we  have  taken 
up  the  carpets ;  we  have  lurked  in  wait  for  it,  and 
rushed  out  upon  it  as  you  did  to-night,  —  and  found 
nothing,  —  as  you  did.  I,  for  one,  would  take  mighty 
kindly  to  any  sort  of  a  natural  explanation.  A  ghost — 
no  matter  how  much  you  give  him  the  cold  shoulder 
—  does  n't  make  for  happiness  in  the  home,  and  "  — 
he  shuddered  —  "he  is  apt  to  give  you  the  cold 
shoulder." 

" Is  it  an  old  affair? "  asked  Desmond. 

"We  can't  exactly  fix  just  when  the  manifesta 
tion  began.  It  always  butts  in  immediately  after  we 
come  home.  Then  there  will  be  a  long  interval.  Pre 
sently  it  starts  up  again,  —  every  few  nights.  Then 
we  may  have  another  long  exemption.  You  would 
think  this  old  house  like  any  other  happy  old  home. 
But  in  the  midst  of  the  preparation  for  departure  it 
is  sure  to  begin  again,  —  if  anybody  is  fool  enough 
to  lie  awake  to  listen  for  it.  Of  course  I  don't  know 
what  the  ghost  may  do  while  we  are  away,  —  in  our 
long  absences  he  may  run  riot  all  over  the  place.  At 
all  events,  we  can  get  no  caretaker  to  sleep  in  the 
house.  I  should  n't  be  surprised  if  its  reputation  of 
being  haunted  protects  it  from  depredators,  river 
pirates,  —  and  such  cattle.  Anyhow,  we  leave  only 
the  ghost  in  charge,  and  there  is  not  a  thing  stirred 
when  we  come  back.  Only  the  dust  over  all,  and  a 
sense  of  mystery." 

"  Of  course  there  must  be  some  natural  explana 
tion,"  Desmond  protested  anew. 

30 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  So  glad  you  think  so,"  said  Reginald,  politely. 
"But  you  will  not  mention  it  to  mamma." 

"  Certainly  not  •  but  is  the  demonstration  always 
the  same?" 

"  Always  the  same,  —  a  step  going  up  and  coming 
down  the  stair;  —  going  up  and  presently  coming 
down  the  stair,  just  as  you  heard  it.  It  is  up  to  you 
to  explain  it.  It  is  no  tradition  as  far  as  you  are 
concerned ;  you  were  all  unconscious  and  without 
expectation." 

A  sudden  wind  had  sprung  up  without.  It  came 
down  the  great  channel  of  the  Mississippi  in  chilly 
gusts,  with  a  thrill  of  dawn  in  its  reviving  stir.  It 
shook  the  silence.  Myriads  of  undiscriminated  voices 
were  rife  in  the  air.  The  boughs  of  the  great  oaks 
of  the  grove  without  clashed  and  fell  still  again. 
The  evergreen  leaves  of  the  Cherokee  rose  hedges, 
fencing  the  place  for  miles,  kept  up  a  rippling  stir  in 
the  section  close  at  hand.  A  draft  became  perceptible 
at  the  nearest  window,  and  Desmond,  looking  toward 
it,  saw  through  the  parted  curtains  that  the  clouds 
were  riven  asunder  and  a  clear,  chill  star  was  scintil 
lating  in  a  deep  abyss  of  darkness.  The  night  was 
wearing  on,  —  not  far  from  day,  —  not  far  from  a 
frosty  dawn. 

"  And  nothing  has  ever  been  seen,"  said  Desmond, 
drawing  the  cord  of  his  robe  closer. 

Reginald  stirred  the  fire  ;  then  resumed  his  easy 
posture  before  it,  his  eyes  upon  the  blaze.  "  I  beg 
pardon,"  he  rejoined,  somewhat  unwillingly ;  "  but  I 
did  not  say  that." 

31 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  I  misunderstood  you,  then/'  said  the  tutor.  He 
sought  to  laugh,  but  he  had  himself  heard  too  much 
that  he  could  not  explain  to  make  his  ridicule  effec 
tive.  "  But  there  must  be  some  natural  explanation." 

"  Well,  —  we  can't  get  at  it,  —  that 's  all,"  said 
Reginald,  somewhat  nettled  by  the  ridicule.  "  You 
see  I  am  not  stuffing  you.  I  have  not  the  teast  dispo 
sition  to  trot  out  our  ghost  to  —  to  lord  it  over  you. 
I  do  not  expect  you  to  bow  down  and  admire  him.  I 
am  not  trying  to  make  prestige  on  his  account.  You 
and  he  struck  up  an  acquaintance  without  any  intro 
duction  from  me.  And  the  apparition  on  the  stairs  is 
so  logical  and  in  keeping  that  it  bears  out  the  sound 
of  the  step,  —  and  that  is  what  troubles  us,  —  espe 
cially  mamma.  She  is  not  superstitious,  but  she  is 
a  very  sensitive  organization,  —  and  she  always  hated 
this  dull  old  plantation,  and  this  gruesomeness  that  it 
has  developed  does  not  recommend  it  the  least  little 
bit." 

"  But  about  the  apparition  ? "  Desmond  asked 
eagerly,  even  while  he  was  ready  to  rally  himself  that 
he  should  entertain  so  primitive  a  curiosity. 

"Why,  it  came  about  the  most  natural  way  in  the 
world,"  declared  Reginald.  "  There  was  a  wedding 
over  at  Dryad-Dene,  Colonel  Kentopp's  plantation, 
—  Mrs.  Kentopp's  sister,  I  think,  —  a  great  wedding, 
all  in  the  old  style.  The  Kentopps  are  up-to-date 
people,  —  make  a  point  of  keeping  up  with  the  pro 
cession,  unless  some  fashionable  antique  craze  takes 
hold  on  them.  Just  at  that  time  the  imitation  of  the 
big  old  country  wedding  was  all  the  go.  So  instead 

32 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

of  having  the  ceremony  at  our  little  neighborhood 
church,  and  taking  the  next  train  or  packet  for 
the  wedding  tour,  the  marriage  was  at  the  mansion, 
in  the  style  of  fifty  years  ago.  They  invited  the 
country ;  and  the  relatives  and  the  friends  came  in 
their  dozens,  if  you  please.  Of  course  the  Kentopps 
could  n't  put  them  all  up,  so  some  of  the  guests  were 
entertained  by  their  neighbors,  and  there  were  many 
dinners  and  dances  and  such  functions  in  the  vicinity 

—  houses  five  miles  apart,  mostly  —  to  compliment 
the  happy  couple.  We  took  our  part,  of  course.  We 
were  just  returned  from  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and 
Oceanica  "  (with  a  pert  little  fling),  "  and  the  house 
was  jammed.  I  don't  know  if  you  have  noticed  that 
there  isn't  a  regular  second  story  to  this  old  bun 
galow.  The  rooms  above  are  in  a  half  story, — mighty 
near  all  dormer  window.  We  don't  use  those  rooms 
unless  we  are  hard  put  to  it.  But  on  this  occasion 
they  were  full,  —  even  cots  and  pallets  on  the  floor. 
Well,  in  the  bedroom  on  the  left  hand  side  as  you 
ascend  the  stairs  were  a   lady  and  three  children. 
They   were  nearly  related  to  the  bridegroom,  but 
strangers  to  us,  —  they  had  never  been  here  before, 

—  and  one  of  the  kids  took  advantage  of  the  oppor 
tunity  to  make  himself  conspicuous  by  getting  ex 
ceedingly  ill.  My  mother  suggested  that,  to  have 
help  near  at  hand  in  the  night,  the  nurse  should  sleep 
on  a  pallet  in  the  hall.  The  nurse  was  cheerful  and 
agreed ;  there  was  a  big,  bright  moon,  and  all  the 
dormer  windows  were  very  festive.  About  midnight 
this  lady  was  awakened  by  the  nurse,  who  came  and 

33 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

asked  leave  to  draw  her  pallet  into  the  bedroom, 
because  she  could  not  sleep  for  the  continual  passing 
up  and  down  the  stairs,  —  tip,  tip,  tip,  —  slyly  slip 
ping  up  and  slyly  slipping  down."  He  paused  to 
listen  apprehensively,  then  recommenced.  "  The  good 
lady's  nerves  were  racked  with  anxiety,  I  dare  say, 
for  she  declared  that  it  was  very  ill-bred  in  the  other 
guests  not  to  let  the  house  get  quiet,  when  there  was 
illness  and  a  chance  that  her  child  would  die.  Then 
she  told  the  nurse  to  return  to  her  pallet,  —  that  the 
room  was  too  crowded  already  with  herself  and  the 
three  children,  and  the  sick  boy  needed  air.  After  a 
time  the  nurse,  an  intelligent,  patient,  reasonable 
woman,  came  back,  declaring  that  she  was  afraid. 
There  was  something  strange  in  this  passing.  It 
•was  not  the  other  guests.  The  people  were  all  still, 
asleep ;  the  house  was  as  silent  as  death ;  but  yet  — 
slip,  slip,  slip  —  something  shuffling  along  so  silently, 
so  slyly,  —  she  was  fit  to  scream.  She  was  once  more 
rebuked  and  sent  to  her  place.  Presently  she  did 
scream !  The  moon  had  traveled  over  the  house  and 
the  beams  began  to  fall  through  the  window  over 
the  staircase,  and  there  she  saw  what  had  been  going 
up  and  down  the  steps,  —  a  man  in  fancy  dress,  she 
declared,  —  my  uncle  thinks  it  was  some  antique 
costume  — 

"Did  he  see  the  apparition,  too?" 

"Sure!  the  whole  house  came  running,  scared  to 
death, — in  just  what  they  had  on,  —  a  beautiful  lot 
they  were,  too  !  but  the  thing  had  vanished.  Only  the 
nurse  and  her  mistress,  who,  being  awake,  had  run  out 

34 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

instantly  upon  the  alarm,  saw  it  distinctly.  They  both 
said  that  it  was  a  man  in  fancy  dress,  with  powdered 
hair.  My  uncle  had  just  opened  his  door  on  the  lower 
floor,  and,  looking  upward  at  the  landing,  his  view 
was  indistinct,  but  his  impression  was  the  same." 

Desmond  pondered  for  a  moment.  "Did  it  never 
occur  to  any  of  them  that  it  was  some  wag  of  the 
house  party  frightening  the  nurse  for  a  freak." 

"  I  have  heard  of  making  a  long  arm,  but  I  can't 
imagine  making  a  long  enough  leg  to  keep  a  foot 
step  going  up  and  down  a  staircase,  when  none  of 
our  'guests  have  been  in  the  county,  or  even  in  the 
State,  for  four  or  five  years." 

"  It  is  strange,"  said  Desmond,  at  last.  "  But  all  the 
same  I  am  sure  that  there  must  be  some  reasonable 
natural  explanation,  — if  it  could  be  found." 

"  I  wish  I  shared  your  belief,  or  disbelief,"  said 
Reginald.  He  looked  up  doubtfully  at  the  candle 
burning  low  now  on  the  mantelpiece.  It  was  not  the 
regulation  bedroom  light,  but  in  a  tall,  silver  candle 
stick,  that  offered  no  protection  against  the  drops 
which  its  guttering  state  sent  dripping  down  its  sides. 
The  fire  was  sinking ;  the  room  had  taken  on  a  shadow 
and  a  sense  of  gloom ;  the  wind  suddenly  rose  in  a 
shrill  skirl ;  then  one  could  hear  some  slight  debris 
of  leaves  or  twigs  skittering  across  the  grass  as  if  in 
a  weird  dance  without.  Any  suggestion  of  uncanny 
footsteps  was  in  jeopardy  to  the  maintenance  of 
equilibrium.  Desmond,  fatigued  from  his  journey 
and  his  vigils,  was  growing  heavy-eyed  and  disposed  to 
slumber.  For  some  time  he  had  been  sensible  of  the 

35 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

increasing  chill  of  the  air,  and  was  beginning  to  can 
vass  the  propriety  of  himself  terminating  the  interview, 
and  in  his  character  of  tutor  authoritatively  bidding 
the  boy  to  betake  himself  to  his  own  bedroom  instead 
of  awaiting  his  exit  as  a  guest.  But  Reginald  sud 
denly  resumed.  "  I  wish  I  could  agree  with  you  that 
there  is  a  natural  explanation,  —  if  we  could  light 
upon  it.  I  believe  in  its  supernatural  quality  enough 
to  wonder  how  I  mustered  the  courage  to  come  through 
the  hall  when  I  heard  you  call.  I  was  afraid  that  if 
you  spoke  again,  mamma  would  be  roused.  I  don't  see 
how  I  am  to  get  back.  I  am  something  of  a  man  in 
the  daytime,  but  a  regular  baby  about  it  at  night, — 
and  —  if  you  don't  mind  —  I  '11  just  climb  over  there 
in  the  back  of  the  bed  and  stay  with  you  till  the  rising 
bell.  Oh,  thanks,  muchly.  You  have  saved  my  reason, 
if  not  my  life.  Suppose  —  oh,  just  suppose  —  I  was 
to  meet  old  Slip-Slinksy  in  the  hall,  —  and  he  was 
to  —  to  —  to  blow  out  the  candle." 


CHAPTER  III 

JL  HE  breakfast-table  sbowed  little  correlation  to  a 
haunted  house.  It  was  surrounded  with  bright  and 
smiling  faces  when  Desmond,  to  his  chagrin  a  trifle 
tardy,  opened  the  door.  The  sunshine  lay  among  the 
potted  plants  blooming  in  wire  stands  at  the  two 
casements  opposite  the  great  bay-window,  and  through 
its  broad  outlook  one  could  see  the  immense  shining 
expanse  of  the  king  of  rivers,  with  a  golden  glister  on 
its  ripples,  and  in  the  distance  a  line  of  tender  brown 
ish  gray  to  denote  the  growth  of  cotton  wood  fringing 
the  farther  banks  against  the  blue  sky.  The  sylvan 
hunt  on  the  wall-paper,  in  the  medley  of  scrolls  and 
fantastic  tracery,  had  a  realistic  effect  of  motion  as 
the  sunshine  and  shadow  shifted  over  it  through  the 
stirring  boughs  of  the  great  live-oak  tree  close  with 
out.  A  fire  of  light  wood  glowed  on  the  hearth,  more 
it  might  seem  for  gladsome  cheer  than  needed  warmth, 
this  balmy  day  of  the  southern  winter,  and  old  Joel, 
the  butler,  was  holding  on  a  silver  tray  a  large,  low 
basket  of  ripe  figs  and  brilliant  hothouse  flowers, 
while  Mrs.  Faurie  read  a  note  that  had  come  with  the 
fruit.  She  paused  for  a  moment  and  glanced  up  as 
the  tutor  entered. 

"  Good-morning,  Mr.  Desmond.  I  hope  you  rested 
well."  Then,  rustling  the  missive,  she  read  aloud : 
" ( Congratulations  on  the  date '  —  what  the  mischief 
is  the  date,  Uncle  Clarence?  —  the  5th  of  December? 

37 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

—  Heavens  and  earth !  The  cruel  woman !  She  is 
reminding  me  of  my  birthday."  She  tossed  the  note 
aside  with  a  gesture  of  mock  desperation.  "  Let  me 
give  you  some  coffee,  Mr.  Desmond, — I  can  swallow 
my  mortification  later, —  or  will  you  have  chocolate?" 
As  she  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table,  moving  the 
pieces  of  the  large  old-fashioned  silver  service,  that 
glittered  with  polish,  but  showed  here  and  there  an 
indentation  that  bespoke  the  battering  proclivity  of 
years  of  daily  usage,  the  light  from  the  several  win 
dows  was  full  on  her  face.  Her  complexion  was  more 
than  ever  like  a  white  rose  in  its  softness  and  delicacy 
thus  displayed.  Her  fine,  long  throat  was  shown  by  the 
surplice  cut  of  her  plain  white  lawn  blouse,  of  which 
the  sleeves  reached  only  to  the  elbow  of  her  softly 
rounded  arms,  with  their  slim,  dainty  hands ;  her  skirt 
was  of  plain  pleated  black  voile,  and  her  brown  hair 
was  rolled  straight  up  from  her  forehead.  Nothing 
could  be  more  homelike,  more  simple ;  but  the  effect 
of  her  eyes  as  she  looked  at  him  from  under  her  long 
lashes,  her  level  brows  slightly  drawn,  had  a  vaguely 
bewildering  effect  on  Desmond.  He  had  seen  charm 
ing  women  heretofore,  but  none  to  parallel  her  love 
liness.  His  mind  was  acclimated  to  the  idea,  the 
tradition  of  incomparable  beauty,  but  not  in  these 
close  relations.  To  breakfast  with  Helen  of  Troy,  to 
receive  a  cup  of  chocolate  from  the  hand  of  Diana 
herself,  to  reply  to  a  word  of  simple  inquiry  and  as 
sured  authority  from  the  embodiment  of  the  ideal  that 
poets  have  sung  and  painters  have  limned  in  all  ages, 
was  disconcerting.  Had  she  seemed  herself  more 

38 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

aware  of  her  preeminent  endowment,  had  she  been 
self-conscious,  he  could  have  better  adjusted  himself 
to  its  continual  contemplation ;  but  he  had  the  senti 
ment  of  a  unique  discovery,  of  perceiving  somewhat 
unknown,  unnoted. 

"  I  can't  see  any  cause  for  mortification  ;  it  seems 
to  me  a  very  pretty  compliment,  mamma."  Regi 
nald  had  taken  the  note  up  with  some  anxiety  and 
was  perusing  it  with  a  clearing  brow. 

"  A  compliment !  —  to  be  reminded  of  my  dread 
ful  age." 

"  Ah,  Honoria,  you  are  absurd,  my  dear,"  Mr. 
Stanlett  protested,  with  an  air  of  concern.  "  Thirty- 
four  is  still  young,  —  still  young,  my  dear." 

"  Oh,  how  can  you  mention  it,  Uncle  Clarence  ? 
Let  me  forget  the  exact  number !  I  feel  one  foot  in 
the  grave !  I  am  the  prey  of  time  !  " 

She  cast  up  her  beautiful  eyes  in  an  affectation  of 
distress ;  then,  catching  the  serious  regards  of  the 
youngest  boy  fixed  upon  her,  dubiously,  uncertain  of 
her  mood,  she  looked  at  him  intently  for  a  moment, 
and  burst  into  a  ripple  of  smiles,  to  which,  reassured, 
he  responded  with  a  callow  chuckle,  infinitely  allur 


ing. 


"  But  we  will  have  the  basket  in  the  centre  of  the 
table,"  she  continued.  "All  of  you  who  have  the 
heart  can  eat  a  fig.  I  '11  bet  there  are  just  thirty-four 
of  them." 

The  two  younger  boys  strained  over  the  table  to 
count. 

"Dead  to  rights,  mamma,"  said  Rufus,  the  ten- 

39 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

year  old,  who  enjoyed  the  preeminence  of  "  baby." 
"Just  thirty-four  figs." 

"A  very  pretty  compliment,  mamma,"  protested 
Reginald  again.  "  For  my  part,  I  am  obliged  to  Mrs. 
Kentopp,  and  I  am  ashamed  that  I  did  not  remember 
the  date  myself." 

"Oh,  ho!  You  bet  I  did!"  said  Rufus,  with  a 
triumphant  nod. 

Mrs.  Faurie  put  down  her  spoon,  and  cast  a  look 
across  the  silver  service  so  replete  with  maternal  affec 
tion,  so  embellishing  to  her  proud  beauty,  that  it 
seemed  indeed  a  pity  that  the  face  on  which  it  was 
bestowed  should  be  so  round,  so  freckled,  so  jocosely 
creased,  so  facetiously  winking. 

"  What  have  you  got  for  me,  Chubby?"  she  asked. 
Her  look  was  angelic. 

o 

"  You  '11  see,  —  you  '11  see  !  "  He  smiled  widely. 
The  dentist  had  been  at  work  on  that  smile,  and  had 
eliminated  two  teeth,  and  the  interval  interfered  with 
the  happiest  expression  of  filial  affection. 

The  other  two  brothers,  though  manifestly  discon 
certed  and  deprecatory,  looked  at  him  with  the  quizzi 
cal  contempt  with  which  an  elder  boy  cannot  refrain 
from  tormenting  his  junior.  "  Chub,  don't  be  such  a 
chump,"  Horace  admonished  him.  "  You  ought  to 
be  ashamed  to  give  mamma  a  birthday  offering  of 
some  of  the  trash  that  you  have  collected  in  your 
European  toivers"  —  with  a  leer  to  emphasize  the 
taunting  mispronunciation,  —  "a  last  year's  calendar 
or  a  cigarette  tag." 

"  'T  ain't  no  old  European  bibelot !  "  Chubby  de- 

40 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

clared,  his  round  cheeks  no  longer  distended  with 
happy  smiles.  His  eyes  were  grave  and  flashing  fire, 
—  he  was  consciously  on  the  defensive.  He  breathed 
hard  and  deep. 

"  Oh,  to  be  sure,  —  some  of  his  chiffons  from  the 
Rue  de  la  Paix,  —  souvenir  de  Paree,"  Reginald 
twitted  him,  with  a  nettling  laugh. 

"  'T  ain't,  —  it 's  brand-new,"  Chub  protested. 

"  Where  did  you  get  it?  "  the  other  two  asked  in 
a  breath. 

"  I  bought  it  with  my  own  money,"  —  there  was  an 
intonation  of  pride  in  this  assertion. 

"  But  where  ?  —  bloated  capitalist !  "  asked  Regi 
nald,  really  curious,  for  there  was  scant  opportunity 
to  spend  money  at  Great  Oaks  Plantation,  forty  miles 
distant  from  any  town  larger  than  a  hamlet  or  a  rail 
road  way- station. 

"  Where  do  you  reckon  ?  "  —  with  temper.  Then 
with  a  gush  of  pride,  "  From  the  trading-boat,  — 
that 's  where  !  " 

Desmond  could  not  understand  why  the  two  elder 
boys  stared  at  each  other  for  a  moment,  then  col 
lapsed  into  inextinguishable  laughter,  scarlet  in  the 
face,  nerveless,  well-nigh  helpless.  Even  Mr.  Stanlett 
laughed  with  merry  relish,  and  Chub  looked  from 
one  to  another,  pitiably  crestfallen.  A  "shanty-boat," 
that  had  been  tied  up  at  the  landing,  was  not  of  the 
usual  type  of  trading-boat,  offering  provender  and 
provisions  and  assortments  of  merchandise  in  locali 
ties  remote  from  railway  and  packet  connection,  but 
a  mere  travesty  on  this  mercantile  craft,  hardly  more, 

41 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

indeed,  than  a  raft,  drifting  with  the  current,  bear 
ing  a  little  cabin  in  which  the  owner  lived,  and  from 
which  he  sold  a  medley  of  stock,  —  pins,  needles, 
stale  candies,  tobacco,  whiskey,  snuff,  ribbons,  plated 
jewelry,  —  such  as  might  meet  the  needs  or  strike 
the  taste  of  the  humbler  dwellers  about  the  river 
side,  or  the  backwoods  population  among  the  bayous, 
along  the  sluggish  current  of  which  it  was  sometimes 
poled. 

"  Oh,  —  oh,  mamma,  —  the  trading-boat !  "  cried 
Reginald,  barely  recovering  the  power  of  speech. 

But  Horace  was  altogether  beyond  words. 

"It  is  a  trading-boat!"  Chub  protested.  "Any 
how,  they  have  lots  of  things  to  sell.  They  pole  and 
row  along  the  bayous  and  lakes,  and  they  get  towed 
by  a  steamboat  once  in  a  while,  and  go  up  any  of  the 
rivers  they  like.  Then  they  drift  down  again.  They 
have  been  selling  along  all  the  rivers  in  the  State  of 
Mississippi,  —  they  told  me  so." 

"  They  must  have  been  well  able,  then,  to  pay  the 
considerable  privilege  tax  to  the  State,"  Mr.  Stanlett 
commented  dryly. 

"  Did  it  occur  to  you  to  inquire  into  that  question, 
Chubby  ?  "  asked  Reginald,  still  gasping  with  merri 
ment. 

"Ha!  I'll  engage  that  the  very  word  ' license' 
would  make  that  boat's  crew  cast  off  in  a  trice!"  ex 
claimed  Mr.  Stanlett,  with  a  significant  nod.  "  That 
'  trading-boat '  would  be  swallowed  up  from  sight  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye." 

"  But  we  have  no  right  to  take  that  for  granted, 

42 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Uncle  Clarence,"  Mrs.  Faurie  remonstrated.  "Their 
trade  along  the  bayous  and  bogues  and  lakes,  where 
no  other  boats  come,  may  be  considerable  and  aggre 
gate  enough  to  justify  the  tax.  The  swampers  in 
such  out-of-the-way  places  have  no  other  way  to  buy 
goods." 

"  Ah,  well,  —  perhaps  so,  —  I  'm  not  a  collector. 
We  will  be  charitable  and  hope  for  the  best.  And 
they  may  have  some  exemption  from  the  tax." 

The  proud  Chub,  suddenly  brought  down,  was  near 
to  tears. 

Mrs.  Faurie,  all  unmindful  of  the  ridicule,  was  look 
ing  at  him  with  eyes  aglow.  "  With  your  money, 
Chubby,  — your  own  little  money  ?  —  and  you  always 
so  hard  up,  —  you  dear  little  spendthrift !  And  you 
really  remembered  my  birthday,  and  bled  your  precious 
nickels  to  commemorate  it !  Where  is  my  present  ? 
I  can't  wait  to  see  it !  I  '11  value  it  above  everything 
I  have  in  the  world.  I  '11  always  treasure  it  as  beyond 
price,  —  my  lovely  Chubby 's  gift." 

And  then  it  developed  that  "lovely  Chubby,"  in 
tent  on  surprise,  had  been  seated  throughout  the 
meal  with  the  present  in  a  paper  bag  poised  on  his 
knee  under  his  napkin.  He  was  reassured  in  some 
sort  by  the  cessation  of  the  laughter  of  the  fraternal 
torments.  He  was  too  young  and  too  ingenuous  to 
realize  that  it  was  only  a  momentary  respite  that 
they  might  better  view  the  pomp  of  the  presenta 
tion.  Their  physical  condition  might  have  alarmed 
one  unused  to  view  the  ecstasies  of  adolescent  mirth 
when  the  paper  bag  parted  to  disclose  a  large,  round, 

43 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

wooden  apple,  highly  tinted  with  the  colors  of  nature, 
the  upper  section  of  which  opened  to  reveal  within 
an  assortment  of  needles,  pins,  a  cake  of  wax,  a  brass 
thimble,  a  bodkin,  and  an  emery  masquerading  as  a 
realistic  strawberry. 

"An  apple, — oh,  ye  gods  and  little  fishes!"  cried 
Horace. 

"  An  apple,  —  presented  to  mamma,  —  my  pro 
phetic  soul !  Did  n't  I  say  it  must  be  a  souvenir 
of  Paris,  —  to  the  fairest  ? "  exclaimed  Reginald, 
convulsed. 

"  Ah,  ha,  —  very  good,  —  classical  allusion,"  said 
Mr.  Stanlett,  appreciatively.  He  cast  a  glance  of 
pride  at  the  tutor,  as  if  calling  his  attention  to  this 
point  of  precocity. 

Mrs.  Faurie  silently  examined  every  detail  with  de 
liberate  gravity,  while  the  two  elder  sons  went  from 
one  spasm  into  another  of  mute  laughter,  deeming 
the  episode  too  funny  for  words,  and  the  breathless 
Chub  looked  seriously  and  expectantly  at  her. 

"  Very  useful,  no  doubt,"  said  Mr.  Stanlett,  taking 
his  cue  from  the  gravity  of  her  manner.  "  Valuable, 
—  always  ready,  —  needle-case." 

But  when  Mrs.  Faurie  lifted  her  eyes,  Desmond 
could  but  note  how  brilliant  they  were  with  unshed 
tears. 

"  Come  here,  Chubby,"  she  said,  with  a  break  in 
her  voice.  "  I  can't  wait  to  hug  you  !  " 

He  was  a  big  boy  for  ten  years  of  age,  and  looked 
bigger  in  his  mother's  lap.  She  had  pushed  her  chair 
a  trifle  back  from  the  table,  and  as  he  sat  enthroned 

44 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

and  cherished  beyond  his  fellows,  some  qualm  of 
jealousy  terminated  their  convulsions  of  mirth. 

"  You  have  not  touched  your  plate,  mamma/'  said 
one.  "  I  have  heard  of  people  living  on  bread  and 
cheese  and  kisses,  but  I  never  saw  its  demonstration 
before.  Sweet  Chub,  —  lovely  breakfast  food  !  " 

"  You  two  must  quit  that  thing  of  calling  Ruf  us 
(  Chub/  "  remonstrated  Mr.  Stanlett. 

"  Yes/'  said  Chub,  whisking  around  in  his  mo 
ther's  lap,  and  facing  the  party  from  behind  the  silver 
service ;  "  makes  me  feel  like  a  fish,  —  chub  and 
dace  always  mentioned  together." 

"  Chub  is  a  first-rate  item  on  a  bill  of  fare ;  serve 
him  out,  mamma,"  suggested  Horace. 

"I  am  coming  down  myself,"  said  Chub,  with  a 
final  exasperating  hug  and  kiss. 

"  And  —  quite  a  coincidence !  —  the  waffles  are 
coming  in,"  jeered  Horace. 

"  And  now,"  said  Chub,  once  more  settled  in  his 
place  at  table,  and  feeling  in  fine  fettle  and  high 
favor,  "I  move  that,  being  mamma's  birthday,  we 
have  a  holiday." 

Desmond  was  altogether  unused  to  being  so  set 
aside  and  passed  over  and  made  of  scant  account. 
He  was  aware  that  he  could  not  expect  aught  else  in 
a  family  life  in  which  he  had  no  part ;  nevertheless, 
he  felt  all  the  uneasiness  incident  to  a  false  position 
and  a  new  experience.  He  had  scarcely  spoken  a  word 
since  he  had  entered  the  room.  He  could  not  expect 
the  conversation  to  be  guided  with  a  special  consid 
eration  of  him  in  this  circle  of  family  privacy,  and 

45 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

he  had  submitted  to  eat  his  breakfast  among  them, 
but  not  of  them,  with  what  grace  he  might.  Chub's 
last  remark,  however,  trenched  upon  his  own  peculiar 
province,  and  he  spoke  uninvited  and  to  the  point  : 
"And  I  move  that  we  have  no  holiday." 

Chub  glanced  up,  his  eyes  both  grieved  and  indig 
nant.  "Oh,  why?"  he  said,  —  a  phrase  that  is  in 
more  frequent  use  in  remonstrance  than  any  other  in 
the  English  language  by  all  American  youth  under 
twenty  years  of  age, — a  plea  to  which  Desmond  then 
and  there  resolved  that  he  would  never  reply.  There 
ensued  a  moment  of  awkward  silence. 

Horace  suddenly  answered  for  him.  "  Because, 
Chub,  we  have  to  be  classified,  you  know.  Mr.  Des 
mond  might  be  expecting  you  to  read  Greek,  if  he 
started  you  without  examination,  you  know." 

"Don't  look  so  downcast,  Chubby,"  said  Mrs. 
Faurie,  with  a  caressing  intonation ;  and  Desmond 
was  aware  that,  but  for  the  pose  of  supporting  his 
authority,  the  coveted  holiday  would  have  been 
granted  without  another  moment's  consideration. 
"  Mr.  Desmond  is  not  such  an  ogre." 

Chubby  wagged  his  head  with  a  sorrowful  moni 
tion  of  experience  and  forecast.  "  Tutors  are  all 
alike — when  it  comes  to  ogreing." 

Despite  her  partiality,  Mrs.  Faurie  evidently  thought 
this  hardly  civil.  She  came  hastily  to  the  rescue. 
"  And  we  have  all  the  preliminaries  to  arrange  ;  this 
must  be  a  busy  day."  Then,  obviously  with  a  lingering 
hope  for  Clmbby's  release,  for  his  appealing  look  was 
very  touching,  "But  perhaps  it  might  be  best  to 

46 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

begin  to-morrow.  I  should  think  it  would  be  well  for 
you  to  look  about  you  a  little  before  going  to  work, 
Mr.  Desmond,  —  familiarize  yourself  with  your  sur 
roundings."  She  ended  with  a  rising  inflection  that 
required  an  answer,  and  her  evident  bias  would  seem 
to  dictate  its  import.  It  was  short,  succinct. 

"  Nothing  whatever  is  gained,  Mrs.  Faurie,  by  the 
waste  of  time,"  he  said,  "  and  much  is  lost  by  the 
bad  precedent." 

She  was  rising  from  the  table.  "  Then  we  will  at 
once  consider  the  choice  of  a  schoolroom,"  she  said, 
as  she  preceded  the  party  out  of  the  dining-room. 
At  the  intersection  of  the  entry  with  the  main  hall 
she  paused  ;  here  was  an  outer  door  which  opened  on 
a  broad  veranda,  from  which  the  glittering  Missis 
sippi  could  be  seen  through  the  vistas  of  the  trees. 
This  veranda  ran  quite  around  the  front  portion  of 
the  house,  and  passed  through  it,  dividing  the  main 
building  from  the  two  wings.  At  one  point  this  airy 
structure  widened,  the  flooring  extending  into  a  roof 
less  circular  space,  built  around  the  great  trunk  of 
a  live  oak,  that  made  a  dense  canopy  of  evergreen 
boughs  above  it,  and  let  fall  drooping  shady  branches 
all  about  it.  The  balustrade  of  the  veranda  was  fitted 
with  a  circular  bench,  and  one  could  scarcely  imagine 
a  more  attractive  bower. 

"  This  would  make  a  fine  schoolroom,"  suggested 
Chub,  and  Desmond  was  irritated  to  observe  that  Mrs. 
Faurie  actually  seemed  to  consider  it. 

"  The  less  there  is  to  distract  the  attention,  the 
better,"  he  said  promptly. 

47 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  The  passing  of  a  steamboat,  —  or  a  squirrel, 
would  put  Chub  out  of  the  game  for  the  day,  I  sup 
pose,"  she  conceded,  with  evident  reluctance. 

"  We  could  come  in  if  it  rained,"  persisted  Chub. 

"  We  could  if  we  had  enough  sense,"  said  Horace; 
"  I  have  always  understood  that  it  required  sense  to 
know  enough  to  come  in  out  of  the  rain." 

Desmond  was  feeling  more  interest  in  his  unwel 
come  vocation  as  he  followed  Mrs.  Faurie  into  the 
main  hall.  He  was  apprehensive  lest  some  puerile 
folly  of  his  pupils  and  the  facile  leniency  of  their  mo 
ther  jeopardize  the  practicability  of  his  mission,  and 
his  vocation  be  riven  from  him  when  he  had  come  to 
depend  solely  upon  it.  He  looked  about  the  place  crit 
ically,  noting  facts  that  might  have  escaped  him  oth 
erwise  in  a  cursory,  uninterested  survey.  The  house 
bore  little  or  indeed  no  token  of  the  extensive  wander 
ings  of  its  inmates  in  foreign  lands.  There  were  a 
few  good  paintings  on  the  walls,  but  their  frames  were 
old  and  tarnished  and  in  several  instances  marred, 
and  he  fancied  they  were  trophies  of  the  travels  of  pre 
vious  generations.  Other  canvases  were  devoted  to 
the  portraits  of  the  family,  some  evidently  painted 
by  brushes  of  distinction,  and  others  only  redeemed 
from  the  imputation  of  being  daubs  by  the  facility  and 
freedom  with  which  the  likeness  had  been  caught, 
the  art  subordinate  to  the  lifelike  portrayal.  The 
ornaments,  clocks,  vases,  were  rich  and  represented 
the  expenditure  of  money,  but  were  obviously  the 
haphazard  aggregations  of  years  and  successive  own 
ers,  and  with  no  system  of  collection  or  interest  of 

48 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

suggestion.  He  divined  that  Mrs.  Faurie  cared  too 
little  for  life  in  the  mansion  house  of  the  hated  plan 
tation  to  spend  time,  or  thought,  or  money  on  its 
decoration.  Hence,  in  lieu  of  rich  oriental  rugs  and 
polished  floors,  the  old  velvet  carpets  still  did  service, 
being  of  good  quality,  seemingly  imperishable,  cover 
ing  every  inch  of  the  wood;  the  old  satin  damask 
curtains,  with  lace  beneath,  draped  the  windows  as  of 
yore.  The  furniture  of  carved  rosewood,  and  espe 
cially  that  of  ponderous  mahogany,  was  better  in 
countenance  in  view  of  the  modern  craze  for  ancient 
relics,  but  its  owner  valued  it  no  whit  more  for  the 
fashion.  There  was  nowhere  the  museum-like  effect 
to  be  seen  so  often  in  the  home  of  a  traveled  propri 
etor.  Except  for  a  casual  mention,  no  one  could 
imagine  that  any  of  the  household  had  sojourned  in 
Japan,  or  journeyed  on  camels  in  remote  deserts,  or 
voyaged  on  the  Nile  and  the  Ganges.  It  was  an  old 
house,  distinctly  of  its  locality,  in  a  fat,  luxurious 
country,  replete  with  the  suggestions  of  decorous 
antecedents ;  and  one  might  seem  ungrateful  to  be  so 
loath  to  come  to  it,  and  so  eager  to  be  gone  again,  as 
was  Mrs.  Faurie.  The  sons  had  evidently  lost  all  sense 
of  preference,  small  citizens  of  the  world.  Home  was 
with  each  other  and  their  mother  ;  and  it  hardly  mat 
tered  if  it  were  in  Rome,  or  in  the  light  of  the  mid 
night  sun,  or  on  the  banks  of  the  great  Mississippi. 

Desmond  had  felt  himself  somewhat  expatriated 
in  surroundings  so  foreign  to  the  world  of  letters,  of 
art,  of  public  interest,  of  intellectual  activity,  until  he 
came  into  the  library.  Unconsciously  he  drew  a  long 

49 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

breath  of  relief.  On  every  hand  he  knew  were  friends. 
He  was  not  sorry  to  see  that  the  books  were  old 
and  evidently  long  undisturbed.  They  bore  the  marks 
of  some  previous  owner's  loving  care.  They  were  all 
under  glass,  the  shelves  built  into  the  walls ;  below, 
extending  up  three  feet  from  the  floor,  were  solid 
doors  betokening  cabinets,  fitted  with  locks,  and 
doubtless  containing  treasures  of  old  files  of  news' 
papers,  pamphlets,  magazines.  These  were  all  collec 
tions  of  elder  members  of  the  house  of  Faurie,  and 
little  troubled  by  the  present  generation.  Two  big 
globes,  one  terrestrial,  the  other  celestial,  could  indeed 
give  to  the  experienced  young  travelers  of  to-day 
only  the  information  how  very  little  was  known  of 
the  world  at  the  time  of  the  construction  of  these 
microcosms. 

There  was  a  great  fireplace,  vacant  now,  the  room 
being  out  of  use,  with  the  usual  glittering  brasses  of 
andirons  and  fender.  The  sun  streamed  in  at  the 
tall  windows  at  the  eastern  side ;  on  the  other,  —  for 
the  apartment  was  in  one  of  the  wings  separated  from 
the  main  building  by  the  veranda, —  one  could  look 
out  through  the  vistas  of  gigantic  trees  at  the  great 
embankment  of  the  levee  in  the  foreground,  the  splen 
did  scroll  of  the  Mississippi  emblazoning  the  middle 
distance,  and  far,  far  away  the  low  line  of  the  forests 
at  the  horizon  meeting  the  blue  sky.  The  windows 
were  draped  only  by  some  old-time  lambrequins, 
short  and  of  a  grape-blue,  and  below  were  suspended 
the  slatted  shades  called  Venetian  blinds.  A  heavy 
mahogany  desk,  with  innumerable  pigeon-holes,  and 

50 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

a  wide  writing-shelf,  covered  with  grape-blue  leather, 
looked  tempting  and  scholarly.  A  long  table  with 
drawers  was  in  the  centre  of  the  floor,  and  on  each 
side  some  chance  hand  had  arranged  chairs  high  and 
stiff  and  ready  for  writing  or  reading. 

"  This  seems  made  for  us.  Could  you  spare  this 
room?"  Desmond  asked,  feeling  nevertheless  the 
assurance  of  the  demand. 

She  hesitated.  Though  she  cared  little  for  Great 
Oaks,  the  incongruity  struck  her.  This  was  indeed  a 
fine  room  to  devote  to  the  uses  of  pupils  and  peda 
gogue,  and  it  might  be  that  all  that  Chub  would  ever 
learn  would  not  be  worth  the  wear  and  tear  that  his 
acquisitions  here  would  cost  it. 

"But  why  not?"  she  asked  in  turn.  "Certainly 
the  parlors  are  ample  for  so  little  company  as  we  see 
here." 

"  And  we  shall  keep  regular  hours ;  the  room  can 
be  at  the  service  of  the  family  in  the  evenings";  he 
rather  pressed  the  point.  "  The  library  is  separate  from 
the  rest  of  the  building,  and  less  liable  to  interrup 
tion,  out  of  earshot  of  anything  that  may  be  going 
forward  in  the  household;  the  books  are  all  at 
hand;  the  atmosphere  is  inspiring." 

"  By  all  means,  then,"  she  assented. 

But  later,  when  she  mentioned  the  decision  to  her 
uncle,  he  looked  dismayed,  and  she  half  regretted  her 
compliance. 

"  He  selected  the  library  as  a  schoolroom  ! "  ex 
claimed  Mr.  Stanlett.  "  Well,  he  is  moderate!" 

"  He  showed  the  first  vestige  of  emotion  that  I 

51 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

think  it  is  possible  for  him  to  entertain  when  he  saw 
the  books/'  she  said.  "  I  want  him  to  be  satisfied  at 
Great  Oaks,  —  if  anybody  can  be  satisfied  in  the 
Mississippi  swamp." 

"  What  sort  of  impression  does  he  make  upon  your 
mind  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Stanlett,  solicitously. 

"  I  think  he  is  an  iceberg ;  he  lowers  the  tempera 
ture  whenever  he  approaches." 

But  the  value  of  the  library  as  an  educational  in 
fluence  was  not  immediately  apparent,  and  Desmond, 
who  had  never  taught,  was  destined  to  find  that 
there  is  far  more  requisite  for  success  than  the  equip 
ment  for  instruction.  The  poignancy  of  the  relin- 
quishment  of  his  dear  ambitions,  his  sensitive  appre 
ciation  of  his  reduction  to  an  unsuitable,  subsidiary 
position  in  the  esteem  of  the  world,  the  tingling  sense 
of  personal  isolation,  of  humiliation  in  a  sort,  as  of 
an  unwelcome,  disregarded,  yet  necessary  supernu 
merary  in  the  family  circle,  so  apart  themselves  as  to 
render  his  presence  always  felt,  —  he  thought  these 
elements  of  his  poverty  a  sufficient  handicap  on  satis 
faction  in  the  present  and  hope  for  the  future.  He 
might  have  been  still  further  dismayed  at  the  outset 
to  realize  that  education  is  a  cooperative  function, 
and  the  receptivity  of  the  student  is  as  essential  as 
the  radiation  of  the  professor.  He  had  been  himself 
so  eager  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  so  earnest, 
so  alertly  intelligent,  his  mind  assimilating  as  by  an 
involuntary  process  the  pabulum  that  the  curriculum 
set  forth  in  courses,  that  he  did  not  readily  gr<"sp 
the  idea  of  a  different  point  of  view.  He  was  totally 

52 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

unaware  of  the  luxury  of  mental  inaction,  the  atrophy 
of  the  industrial  muscles,  the  dead  levels  of  the  lack 
of  ambition,  of  supine  content  with  the  least  achieve 
ment  compatible  with  the  least  exertion.  He  had 
given  his  instructors  no  occasion  to  seek  to  stimulate 
his  aspirations  to  the  goal  of  his  best  possibilities,  and 
he  had  not  even  turned  the  eye  of  casual  contempla 
tion  upon  their  labors  as  they  herded  their  unwilling 
and  loitering  flocks  along  the  dusty  approaches  to 
learning,  fain  to  be  content  with  such  progress  as 
their  charges  could  be  prevailed  upon  to  make. 

Even  in  the  preliminaries  for  instruction  in  the 
big,  luxurious  room,  friction  supervened.  A  fresh  fire 
blazed  on  the  hearth,  the  places  at  the  table  were  as 
signed,  the  box  of  schoolbooks  was  unpacked,  and  the 
stationery  deposited  in  appropriate  drawers.  Chub's 
joy  in  the  acquisition  of  a  fountain  pen  it  was  neces 
sary  to  moderate,  and  his  plea  to  inaugurate  his  scho 
lastic  labors  by  experimenting  with  a  writing  lesson 
was  tabooed. 

"You  are  not  here  to  do  what  you  wish,  but 
what  is  best  for  you,"  Desmond  said  finally,  and 
Chub  cast  the  pen  from  him  on  the  table  with  an  air 
of  permanent  repudiation  and  a  sullen  pout  of  dis 
affection. 

For  a  time  Horace,  with  the  puerile  mania  to  be 
stirring  something,  must  needs  turn  in  his  chair  and 
with  a  meddlesome  finger  revolve  again  and  again 
the  terrestrial  globe  that  stood  near  by,  contemplat 
ing  not  its  charted  surface,  but  merely  its  pleasing 
semblance  to  a  big  ball,  and  its  satisfactory  poise  that 

53 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

so  slight  a  touch  would  compass  the  revolution  of  the 
earth.  Twice  Desmond  politely  requested  him  to  de 
sist.  Horace  was  still  for  a  little  while,  but  soon 
his  careless  mood  had  lost  the  memory  of  the  com 
mand,  the  world  was  briskly  awhirl  anew,  and  in  his 
lazy  consciousness  he  was  scarcely  aware  of  his  own 
agency  in  the  fact. 

Desmond  hesitated.  He  gazed  at  the  forgetful 
Horace  for  a  moment,  then  he  commented:  "  I  hope 
that  you  are  fond  of  the  study  of  geography.  If 
you  turn  that  globe  again,  you  shall  map  out  every 
country  on  it  and  chart  every  body  of  water,  work 
ing  all  the  afternoons  while  the  others  are  out  of 
school  till  you  practically  own  the  earth  and  the 
boundaries  thereof.  Are  you  a  pretty  expert  cartogra 
pher?" 

Horace,  amazed  and  insulted,  grew  round-eyed  and 
red.  "Mamma  would  not  permit  it,"  he  said  stiffly. 

"We  shall  see.  This  is  my  schoolroom,  and  what 
I  say  here  —  goes !  " 

"  Now,  Horace,  I  hope  that  you  have  got  it !  " 
Reginald  exclaimed  in  reproach. 

Horace  was  motionless,  mutinous  in  dubitation. 
Then  with  a  fling  he  turned  his  back  upon  the  allure 
ments  of  the  world  and  joined  the  silent  and  pouting 
Chub  in  fixedly  regarding  the  grape-blue  leather  cover 
inlaid  in  the  table,  and  spotted  here  and  there  with  the 
ink  of  old-time  chirographers. 

Desmond  himself  had  his  distractions.  He  was  inter 
ested  in  the  old  sand-box,  full  of  metal  filings,  for 
merly  used  instead  of  blotters  to  dry  the  ink  on  the 

54 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

page.  He  was  surprised  when  a  bronze  bust  on  the 
table  revealed  an  inkstand,  as  the  helmet  of  the  head 
of  Pallas  was  lifted, —  a  series  of  inkstands,  it  con 
tained,  for  different  tints,  and  his  set  and  joyless  face 
relaxed  as  he  refilled  them.  "  This  is  a  quaint  fancy, 
—  this  inkstand,"  he  said. 

Then  he  must  needs  be  quick  to  check  Reginald's 
intention  to  throw  into  the  fire  a  bundle  of  carefully 
made  quill  pens  of  a  bygone  date.  These  came  from 
a  small  drawer,  evidently  long  disuied,  that  had  a 
trick  of  sticking.  There  were  also  some  wafers  here, 
for  the  sealing  of  letters,  and  a  stick  of  sealing- 
wax. 

Desmond  sought  to  inaugurate  a  more  agreeable 
topic  than  had  hitherto  distinguished  the  incidents  of 
the  morning.  He  took  these  relics  of  the  past  as  a 
suggestion.  He  said  that  it  ought  to  be  peculiarly 
pleasant  to  them  to  work  here,  where  those  of  their 
own  blood  had  read,  and  written,  and  thought  out 
the  problems  of  their  day ;  and  that  this  was  home 
in  the  truest  sense,  a  oneness  of  mind  and  heart  and 
effort.  They  should  have  a  sentiment  to  retain  the 
inkstand,  sand-box,  and  bunch  of  quills,  these  tokens 
of  the  mental  activity  of  their  forbears,  hallowed  by 
their  usage ;  and  the  stiff,  unnoticed,  forgotten  drawer 
of  the  table,  where  these  writing-materials  had  been 
found,  might  cause  them  to  think  how  yesterday  al 
ways  leaves  a  trace  on  to-day,  and  to  take  heed  that 
it  is  not  a  vain  regret  nor  the  disaster  of  the  waste 
of  time. 

They  listened  in  blank  silence  and  unresponsive- 

55 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

ness.  Desmond,  somewhat  taken  aback,  for  he  had 
had  a  purpose  of  talking  to  his  pupils  to  mould  the 
form  of  their  thought,  to  fashion  their  habit  of  phras 
ing,  to  direct  their  outlook  and  give  the  values  of 
viewpoint,  to  accomplish  their  improvement  insensibly 
even  in  their  leisure  hours,  felt  a  disposition  to  recur 
to  the  line  and  rule  of  the  text-book.  "  Let  them 
learn,  then,  just  what  is  set  down  for  them,"  he  said, 
disappointed  with  the  first  experiment. 

But  even  thus  his  expectations  were  so  suddenly 
dashed  that  he  had  a  sense  of  helplessness,  —  an  in 
capacity  to  reach  that  volition  of  mind  that  makes  it 
a  motive  power.  Words  were  all  ineffective,  argument 
thrown  away.  Already  he  began  to  perceive  that  he 
might  teach  in  vain  if  they  would  not,  and  therefore 
could  not,  learn.  His  heart  sank  within  him  as  he 
noted  the  look  of  dull  disinclination,  desolation  in 
deed,  with  which  Reginald  turned  the  leaves  of  the 
Greek  Reader. 

"What  is  the  use  of  the  classics,  Mr.  Desmond?" 
he  asked  in  a  tone  of  dreary  protest.  "  Nobody  speaks 
the  languages  any  more.  Why,  when  I  was  in  Greece 
last  winter,  even  I  could  see  that  what  I  had  learned 
of  ancient  Greek  was  miles  away  from  modern  Hel 
lenic.  And  I  spoke  Italian,  not  Latin,  in  Rome.  As 
to  Greek  literature,  —  why,  we  have  the  finest  transla 
tions, —  better  than  any  I  can  ever  make.  Now  what 
gentleman  ever  sits  down  to  read  Euripides  in  the 
original?  Now,  honestly,  Mr.  Desmond,  what  good 
has  Greek  ever  been  to  you?" 

This  was  indeed  a  home-thrust, — the  contrast  of 

56 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

his  splendid  and  complete  intellectual  armament  and 
the  field  of  its  employment. 

"  It  has  given  me  the  distinguished  opportunity  of 
teaching  you." 

There  was  dead  silence  for  a  few  moments  as  the 
group  sat  around  the  table.  The  two  sullen  young 
sters,  apprehending  rather  the  tone  of  the  retort  than 
its  full  significance,  lifted  their  lowering  eyes  and 
looked  in  blank  wonder  from  one  of  the  speakers  to 
the  other.  Reginald  continued  to  turn  the  volume 
listlessly  in  his  hand,  but  a  scarlet  flush  was  suffusing 
his  face,  and  stealing  to  the  roots  of  his  auburn  hair. 
Presently  he  said,  with  the  air  of  venturing  a  sugges 
tion,  "It  must  be  a  language  particularly  rich  in 
satire ;  it  must  cultivate  the  faculties  for  sarcasm,  at 
all  events." 

The  work  got  under  way  at  length,  and  perhaps 
progressed  as  satisfactorily  as  if  there  had  been  a  more 
genial  understanding.  Each  faction  was  cautious, 
being  uncertain  of  the  other,  and  hence  experiments 
were  not  in  favor.  There  was  much  of  the  genuine 
gentleman  in  Reginald ;  he  was  averse  to  occasion- 
ing  needless  inconvenience  or  annoyance  to  others, 
and  had  he  no  further  reason,  he  would  have  exerted 
himself  to  curb  the  vagaries  of  his  wandering  atten 
tion,  so  little  accustomed  to  concentration.  But  he 
had,  too,  a  proper  pride.  Without  the  opportunity  of 
cramming  for  the  examination,  the  disadvantages  of 
his  erratic  training  and  the  irregular  development 
of  his  immature  mind  were  to  be  discerned  without 
palliation.  This,  however,  gave  token  how  solid  an 

57 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

intellectual  endowment  he  possessed.  As  he  struggled 
with  the  questions  and  bent  every  faculty  to  the  en 
deavor  to  do  himself  as  little  discredit  as  he  might, 
Desmond  felt  somewhat  encouraged.  There  was  good 
material  here,  if  it  could  be  disengaged  from  the 
tangle  of  puerile  folly,  superficial  observation,  false 
standards,  and  a  total  lack  of  the  habit  of  applica 
tion. 

The  other  two  promised  less  well,  and  Desmond 
had  with  them  far  less  sympathy  and  less  patience. 
Horace,  still  swelling  with  wrath  for  the  indignity  of 
the  geographical  threat,  was  merely  biding  his  time, 
and  temporizing  with  his  tyrant  till  the  close  of  the 
diurnal  session  should  permit  him  to  bear  his  tale  of 
woe  to  his  mother,  who  he  doubted  not  would 
avenge  him  summarily.  But  Chub  had  capitulated. 
He  adopted  propitiatory  tactics.  Now  and  again  he 
quitted  his  place  and  came  around  and  stood  beside 
Desmond's  chair,  with  a  plump  and  pleading  hand  on 
his  arm,  and  explained  carefully  that  he  could  not 
really  hope  to  master  fractions  because  they  had  a 
peculiar  effect  on  his  head.  He  thought  it  would  be 
much  better  to  review  long  division,  until  his  health 
was  fully  confirmed,  —  he  was  a  crackerjack  at  long 
division.  He  would  like  to  show  Mr.  Desmond  what 
he  could  do ;  he  could  cover  a  slate  with  figures  to 
beat  the  band.  And  would  Mr.  Desmond  make  those 
two  boys  quit  laughing  at  him,  and  agree  that  he 
might  skip  fractions  altogether.  He  had  heard  people 
say  that  fractions  were  of  no  use,  —  upon  his  wrord  of 
honor,  he  had. 

58 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  Some  small  people  like  unto  yourself,  I  dare  say," 
Desmond  retorted. 

Chub  was  always  so  disappointed  and  surprised 
when  he  was  sent  back  to  his  place,  his  errand  fruit 
less,  to  bend  the  round  integer  of  his  head  over  the 
tantalizing  fractions  on  his  slate,  so  eagerly  abound 
ing  in  renewed  hope  as  he  came  out  again  with  his 
plump  paw  to  be  laid  persuasively  on  Desmond's  arm, 
as  he  stood  by  the  tutor's  chair,  advancing  his  en 
lightened  views,  —  all  of  which  tended  to  eliminate 
study  from  the  scheme  of  things  at  Great  Oaks  man 
sion,  —  that  it  began  to  be  very  obvious  that  this 
was  the  pupil  most  difficult  to  contend  with  and  for 
whose  idiosyncrasies  Desmond  would  have  least  toler 
ation.  For  scholastic  attainment  was  a  very  large  and 
noble  endeavor  in  Desmond's  mind,  despite  the  rea 
sons  he  had  latterly  perceived  to  minimize  its  worldly 
utilities.  And  to  this  effect  did  Mrs.  Faurie  express 
herself  that  evening  at  dinner  when  they  were  all 
grouped  around  the  table. 

"  I  should  judge  from  the  children's  report,  Mr. 
Desmond,  that  you  have  all  had  a  rather  serious  time 
of  it,  to-day.  And  that  is  just  what  I  desire,  —  that 
you  should  maintain  your  authority,"  —  she  cast  her 
beautiful  coercive  eyes  on  each  of  the  youthful  faces, 
shown  in  the  candle-light  intently  regarding  her, — 
"  and  that  they  should  exert  themselves  to  do  their 
duty." 

They  seemed  to  accept  the  fiat  as  law  according 
to  their  several  interpretations  of  duty,  —  Reginald 
with  a  sort  of  manly  serenity,  Horace  as  reduced  to 

59 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

order,  and  the  little  Chub  as  so  distressful  and  help 
less  and  a- weary  of  the  world  that  Mrs.  Faurie  could 
not  refrain  from  reaching  out  her  long  fan,  and  with 
its  downy  tip  touching  him  playfully  under  his  chin 
to  bring  out  his  dimples  and  win  from  him  once 
more  a  smile. 


CHAPTER  IV 

AHE  insubordination  of  the  youthful  students  at 
Great  Oaks  was  happily  at  an  end,  but  their  educa 
tional  problems  remained.  These  promised  Desmond 
food  for  much  thought  for  an  indefinite  time,  and 
roused  him  to  an  ingenuity  of  expedients  to  secure 
the  best  efforts  of  the  young  scholars  themselves. 
For  a  time  success  swayed  in  the  balance  indeter 
minate.  Sometimes  it  seemed  impossible  to  break  to 
habits  of  application,  to  harness  the  attention  of 
these  wildly  roving  minds.  He  did  not  love  the  spec 
tacle  of  wounded  pride,  but  the  heroic  treatment  of 
bluff  ridicule  had  the  happiest  effect. 

"  For  a  fellow  to  have  passed  through  the  Suez  Ca 
nal,  to  have  seen  the  Assouan  Dam,  and  the  Sault 
Canal,  and  the  Segovia  Aqueduct,  and  the  Ganges 
Canal,  and  the  Solani  Aqueduct,  and  have  no  more 
conception  of  the  principles  of  hydraulics  than  a 
mule  shipped  in  a  stock-car  has  of  the  motive  powers 
of  a  steam-engine !  You  did  n't  notice? — neither  does 
the  mule." 

Reginald  was  letter  perfect  the  next  day  in  such 
elementary  exposition  as  the  text-book  on  Natural 
Philosophy  afforded  concerning  locks,  dams,  jetties, 
and  the  varied  utilities  of  controlled  waters;  and 
Desmond,  with  a  touch  of  self-reproach,  called  him 
into  the  library  that  evening  after  dinner,  and  made 
himself  very  gay  and  entertaining  with  stories  of  col- 

61 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

lege  life,  details  of  hazing,  rushes,  athletics,  such  as 
had  but  a  bitter  flavor  to  his  memory  now,  though 
likely  to  please  the  fancy  of  a  destined  collegian. 
Once  or  twice  afterward  Reginald  dropped  in  again, 
his  eyes  bright  and  expectant ;  but  the  tutor  had  no 
immediate  cruelties  to  atone  for,  and  was  dreary  and 
sad  himself,  and  of  no  mind  to  lacerate  his  sensibil 
ities  with  reminiscences  of  happier  days.  He  gave 
himself  up  to  such  solace  as  he  could  find  in  a  book, 
and  Reginald,  quick  of  apprehension,  sat  on  the 
other  side  of  the  table,  a  book  in  his  own  hands, 
albeit  his  attention  wandered  now  and  again  to  the 
black  panes  of  the  windows,  where  he  could  see  the 
moon  in  the  sky  and  a  brilliant  and  shattered  lumi 
nary  fallen  below,  which  he  knew  was  the  lunar  re 
flection  in  the  Mississippi  River.  The  very  touch  of 
a  book  Desmond  considered  salutary,  and  thus  he  did 
not  rebuke  Reginald's  failure  of  attention. 

In  truth,  Desmond  felt  that  he  needed  his  even 
ings  apart.  He  worked  so  hard  with  his  difficult 
and  unmalleable  material  during  the  day  that  he  was 
likely  to  forget  his  disappointments,  his  perverted 
destiny,  his  many  feuds  with  Fate.  But  he  had  not 
ceased  when  alone  to  set  them  in  order  before  him,  to 
canvass  futile  ways  and  means  for  a  counter-stroke,  to 
ponder  with  rancor  on  men  who  had  made  settlement 
of  the  financial  difficulties  impossible,  and  others  who 
had  found  profit  in  pushing  him  to  the  wall.  He 
would  have  his  revenge,  he  resolved ;  he  would  pay 
them  back  in  their  own  coin,  some  day,  —  some  day, 
—  and  suddenly  he  would  feel  the  sting  of  his  own 

62 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

sharp  ridicule  as  he  would  bitterly  laugh  aloud  and 
demand  of  his  utter  helplessness  how  this  might  be 
tide.  Though  it  was  now  little  more  than  a  year 
since  his  father  had  died  at  the  critical  moment  of  a 
business  enterprise  of  magnitude,  which  wrecked  in  its 
collapse  his  other  interests,  it  had  been  already  de 
monstrated  that,  had  he  lived,  it  would  have  succeeded 
signally,  —  indeed,  in  the  hands  into  which  it  had 
gone,  it  was  more  than  justifying  the  confidence  of  its 
projector.  Desmond,  who  could  not  retain  a  single 
share  for  the  lack  of  means,  meditated  ruefully  on 
the  sums  spent  in  completing  his  course  of  study  ac 
cording  to  his  father's  directions,  before  the  condition 
of  the  decedent's  estate  was  definitely  ascertained, 
and  how  these  funds  might  have  been  applied  to 
more  utilitarian  purposes.  He  was  often  too  de 
pressed,  too  distrait,  too  irritated  by  the  untoward 
results  of  the  day's  labor,  to  care  to  read ;  but  a  book 
in  the  hand  was  a  protection  from  the  intrusion  of 
the  family  on  the  polite  theory  of  not  seeming  to 
exclude  him  from  their  social  life.  He  had  been  sent 
for  once  or  twice  in  the  evening  to  join  a  game  at 
cards  with  Mr.  Stanlett,  Mrs.  Faurie,  and  Reginald ; 
but  afterward,  when  he  saw  the  boy's  figure  appear 
on  the  veranda  without  and  flit  away  softly  from  the 
library  window,  he  was  glad  that  the  report  that  he 
was  busy  with  books  and  papers  had  protected  him 
from  that  irksome  interruption.  His  leisure  was  not 
of  pleasant  flavor  with  his  embittered  memories,  but 
it  was  his  own  bit  of  time  with  himself,  and  if  he 
had  come  to  be  not  a  merry  man,  he  could  make 

63  ' 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

no  compact  with  a  new  identity.  Sometimes  he  had 
a  sudden  thought,  an  abstract  thought,  as  unsolicited, 
as  unexpected,  as  beneficent  as  an  angel's  visit,  and 
he  wrote.  So  late  the  light  burned  from  the  library 
windows  night  after  night,  so  consecutively,  that  the 
pilots  of  the  river  craft  came  to  reckon  that  stellular 
gleam  among  their  nocturnal  bearings  betokening  the 
Great  Oaks  mansion. 

Desmond  soon  began  to  take  little  note  of  other 
interests  save  indeed  his  pedagogic  duties.  He  had 
begged  off  several  times  when  guests,  strangers  of 
course  to  him,  had  come  to  dine.  He  was  writing 
something,  he  once  told  Mrs.  Faurie,  confidentially; 
then  he  was  offended  by  the  eager  alacrity  with  which 
she  had  excused  his  presence  at  the  table,  and  the 
promptness  and  deftness  with  which  the  brisk  waiter 
had  served  his  dinner  alone  in  the  library.  He  did  not 
write  at  all,  that  night.  He  smoked  pipe  after  pipe 
of  his  own  strong  tobacco,  instead  of  Mr.  Stanlett's 
fine  mild  cigars  sent  in  with  the  dinner  tray,  although 
he  esteemed  it  in  the  nature  of  "  breaking  training  " 
as  much  now  as  when  he  was  a  star  "  half-back  "  on  a 
crack  Eleven.  He  meditated  much  and  long  over  the 
bitter  problems  of  the  various  degrees  of  want  and 
woe  expressed  in  poverty  absolute  and  poverty  rela 
tive,  and  in  what  actual  wealth  consists,  and  if  the 
rich  are  not  often  paradoxically  the  poor,  and  if  the 
poor,  —  but  he  felt  that  the  converse  was  a  more 
difficult  proposition  to  be  maintained,  to  demonstrate 
that  the  poor  are  ever  by  any  fortuitous  circumstance 
to  be  considered  the  rich. 

64 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

The  winter  was  wearing  away,  —  the  passing  of 
time  marked  only  by  the  gradual  development  of 
approximate  symmetry  in  the  minds  of  the  pupils ; 
the  slow  budding  of  the  trees  of  the  grove,  that  had 
been  the  favored  haunt  of  deer  some  fifty  years  ear 
lier,  before  the  marauding  currents  of  the  river  had 

7  O 

carried  away  the  point  called  formerly  "  Faurie's 
Landing,"  amounting  to  near  a  thousand  acres,  thus 
bringing  the  mansion  house  forward  on  the  banks  of 
the  stream,  within  half  a  mile  of  the  levee,  indeed; 
the  adding  of  page  after  page  to  the  record  of  the 
thought  that  had  come  to  him  in  the  deserted  library 
in  the  midnight ;  —  when  there  suddenly  befell  one 
of  those  incidents  in  which  he  played  an  important 
part,  that  were  as  links  in  a  chain  of  events,  fettering 
the  lives  and  fortune  of  all  in  the  house  and  many 
besides.  This,  the  first  of  these  significant  happen 
ings,  came  about  in  the  simplest  way,  its  importance 
all  unrecognized  at  the  time. 

It  was  morning,  and  in  the  library  his  pupils  sat 
at  their  books,  when  there  sounded  a  sudden  tap  at 
the  door.  Desmond  turned,  frowning,  and  looked 
over  his  shoulder.  In  response  to  his  summons  the 
footman  entered,  his  face  irradiated  by  subdued  ex 
citement  ;  he  presented  formally,  however,  the  com 
pliments  of  Mrs.  Faurie,  who  would  be  glad  to  see 
Mr.  Desmond  and  his  pupils  in  the  parlor,  Colonel 
and  Mrs.  Kentopp  having  arrived. 

Chubby  sprang  up  with  a  whoop.  It  would  be  dif 
ficult  to  say  whom  he  would  not  have  welcomed  with 
like  enthusiasm  to  rescue  him  from  the  grisly  lessons. 

65 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Desmond  rebuked  him  sternly,  while  the  young  ser 
vant  looked  on  in  amaze. 

"  Say  to  Mrs.  Faurie  that  Mr.  Desmond  and  his 
pupils  beg1  to  be  excused,  as  the  hours  for  lessons 
are  not  over." 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  look  of  wall-eyed 
remonstrance  with  which  the  footman  hearkened  to 
this  message,  and  to  emphasize  his  own  opinion  of  it 
he  closed  the  door  so  slowly  that  Desmond  was  sorely 
tempted  to  bound  up  and  kick  it  to  after  him. 

Chub,  on  the  verge  of  tears,  was  tempestuous  in 
argument,  —  his  mother  had  sent  for  him,  he  plained, 
and  he  was  not  allowed  to  go,  —  in  the  midst  of  which 
a  second  tap  at  the  door  heralded  the  footman,  with 
a  change  of  face  if  not  of  heart.  Mrs.  Faurie  begged 
Mr.  Desmond's  pardon  for  the  interruption,  but  would 
be  glad  if  Mr.  Desmond  would  shorten  the  study 
hours  by  ten  minutes  in  order  to  meet  Colonel  and 
Mrs.  Kentopp  in  the  parlor  before  luncheon. 

"  Hi,  Bob,  they  goin'  to  stay  to  lunch  ? "  cried 
Chub,  hilariously.  "  Did  the  children  come  ?  " 

Bob's  grin  of  assent  was  petrified  on  his  face. 

"Take  your  seat,  Rufus,"  said  Desmond,  sharply. 
"  You  must  want  to  do  some  extras  for  penance." 
Then  to  Bob,  "  Shut  —  that  —  door !  " 

A  great  gush  of  talk  and  laughter  issued  from  the 
parlor  as  Desmond  approached  it  before  luncheon.  It 
scarcely  seemed  as  if  so  limited  a  coterie  could  keep 
astir  so  cheery  a  conversational  breeze,  but  Mrs. 
Kentopp  was  vivacity  itself.  She  was  about  thirty- 
eight  years  of  age,  of  medium  height,  but  very  slight. 

66 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

She  impressed  him  at  first  as  somewhat  haggard,  but 
he  soon  perceived  that  this  was  the  effect  of  the  dye 
or  blondine,  which  heightened  the  natural  tint  of  her 
light  hair  to  a  golden  hue,  that  required  special  fresh 
ness  of  complexion  to  accord  with  this  embellishment. 
This  disparagement  was  obviated  when  she  laughed, 
for  a  becoming  flush  came  and  went  in  her  cheeks, 
and  her  light  blue  eyes  danced.  She  was  handsomely 
gowned  in  pastel-blue  cloth,  heavily  braided,  with  a 
hat  of  the  same  shade  trimmed  with  the  breast  of  the 
golden  pheasant.  She  wore  long  tan  gloves  on  a  hand 
so  small  and  soft  that  Desmond  almost  thought  the 

o 

fingers  boneless,  for  despite  her  air  of  condescension, 
she  shook  hands  with  him  in  the  cordial  southern 
fashion  on  informal  occasions. 

"  You  have  not  given  us  the  opportunity  to  wel 
come  you  earlier  to  this  benighted  region,  Mr.  Des 
mond,"  she  said,  laughing  always.  "  Misery  loves 
company ! " 

Her  husband  was  tall,  portly,  fair,  and  flushed,  with 
a  bright,  round,  brown  eye,  dark  hair,  and  a  clean 
shaven,  square  face.  He  was  dressed  in  sedulous  con 
formity  to  the  dictates  of  the  most  recent  fashion  of 
gentleman's  garb,  and  this  dudish  suggestion  was 
queerly  accented  by  his  peculiarly  open  and  genial 
manner  and  his  ringing,  hearty  voice.  He  strode  quite 
across  the  room,  and  most  cordially  clasped  the  stran 
ger's  hand.  But  Desmond  appreciated  that  it  was  a 
very  keen,  searching,  and  business-like  glance  that 
Colonel  Kentopp  bent  upon  him,  singularly  unrelated 
to  his  jovial,  haphazard  manner  and  joyous  tones. 

67 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Desmond  felt  that  it  held  an  element  of  surprise,  and 
that  he  was  altogether  different,  for  some  reason,  from 
what  Colonel  Kentopp  had  expected  to  see.  Mrs. 
Kentopp,  too,  turned  after  a  moment  and  seriously 
surveyed  him  through  her  gold-handled  lorgnette,  as 
he  was  replying  to  the  civilities  addressed  to  him  by 
her  husband.  Concerning  the  newcomers  Desmond 
made  his  own  cursory  deductions,  almost  mechani 
cally,  for  they  did  not  interest  him  in  the  least.  He 
fancied  that  Colonel  Kentopp  rather  valued  himself 
upon  his  amiability  and  popularity,  and  was  even 
prone  to  make  it  evident  that  his  two  children,  a 
girl  and  a  boy,  were  fonder  of  him  than  of  their 
mother.  They  came  in  ever  and  anon  from  the  ve 
randa,  where  they  raced  and  chased  with  Chubby,  to 
acquaint  him  with  some  juvenile  news,  some  change 
of  moment  to  them,  such  as  they  had  fed  the  parrot, 
or  that  Chubby  had  a  Shetland  pony,  and  they  hung 
upon  him,  one  on  either  side,  their  cheeks  against  his 
hair,  their  arms  around  his  neck.  Their  neglected 
mother  seemed  no  whit  disconcerted  by  her  snper- 
sedure  in  their  affections,  and  talked  on  blithely 
to  Mrs.  Faurie  and  Mr.  Stanlett  —  especially  to  the 
old  gentleman,  with  whom  Mrs.  Kentopp  exchanged 
many  compliments  and  affected  to  hold  a  very  gay 
flirtation. 

At  the  lunch-table  Desmond  would  have  felt  quite 
apart  from  the  occasion,  since  they  were  all  old  friends 
and  had  many  subjects  in  common  of  which  he  knew 
naught,  but  that  Colonel  Kentopp,  with  his  genius  for 
geniality,  persisted  in  drawing  him  out,  making  him 

68 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

talk,  appealed  again  and  again  directly  to  him,  and 
would  not  suffer  him  to  be  ignored  by  Mrs.  Kentopp, 
who  seemed  disposed  now  to  flaunt  her  condescension 
and  now  to  give  him  the  cold  shoulder,  albeit  ever 
and  anon  she  fixed  upon  him  a  surprised,  contempla 
tive  gaze  that  temporarily  stilled  her  brilliant,  laugh 
ing  face.  Desmond  could  not  imagine  and  he  did  not 
care  in  what  respect  he  did  not  meet  their  expectations, 
and  although  he  responded  in  good  form  to  Colonel 
Kentopp's  lead,  he  was  not  sorry  when  the  meal,  un 
usually  prolonged,  was  over  at  last,  and  he  was  free 
for  the  afternoon. 

He  betook  himself,  as  soon  as  the  party  had  scat 
tered  sufficiently,  to  the  library,  where  he  sank  down 
in  one  of  the  easy  chairs  to  rest,  not  his  bodily  frame, 
but  his  tired  mind  and  heart.  He  had  not  wished  to 
seem  to  hold  aloof  from  the  family  by  withdrawing 
to  his  own  room,  yet  he  felt  intrusive  with  them  and 
their  friends,  who  were  no  friends  of  his.  He  found 
the  library  a  neutral  ground ;  in  some  sort  it  befitted 
him  and  his  calling.  The  quiet  solaced  him ;  the  atmos 
phere  of  the  books  was  always  friendly ;  the  traces 
of  the  scholastic  labors  were  all  effaced,  shut  up  in 
the  deep  abysses  of  the  drawers  of  the  table ;  the  fire 
glowed  upon  the  hearth.  He  was  more  and  more  at 
ease  as  he  rested,  and  the  slow  hours  of  the  afternoon 
wore  on.  The  shadows  began  to  slant  on  the  level 

o 

reaches  of  the  long  vistas  under  the  oaks ;  the  sun 
light  had  that  dreamy,  burnished  splendor  that  embel 
lishes  the  southern  winter ;  it  loitered  slow,  content, 
its  progress  imperceptible.  All  was  still ;  not  a  sound 

69 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

reached  his  ear  save  the  distant  chatter  of  paroquets 
flitting  about  the  pecan  trees  as  if  still  in  search  of 
nuts.  He  could  see  from  where  he  lounged  in  the  great 
armchair  the  long  stretch  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
the  light  reddening  the  hue  of  its  murky  floods,  the 
ripples  tipped  with  a  sparkle  like  gold  ;  he  noted  as 
often  before  the  peculiar  conformation  of  its  sur 
face,  the  curving  centre  rising  apparently  so  much 
higher  than  the  margins,  which  slanted  downward 
still  toward  the  interior  after  the  manner  of  the  banks 
of  deltaic  rivers;  the  opposite  shores  were  merely  dis 
tinguishable  as  a  line  of  soft,  tender  green.  Here  and 
there  a  trio  of  white  sea-gulls  poised,  then  winged 
away,  and  again  darted  down  toward  the  water,  evi 
dently  roving  hundreds  of  miles  up  from  the  Gulf  in 
tent  on  fishing.  He  was  not  reading  ;  his  mind  seemed 
quiescent,  blank.  The  intensity  of  his  emotions,  the 
dull  discouragements  of  his  position,  had  worn  on  him 
more  than  he  was  aware.  He  was  mentally  resting. 
He  had  no  conscious  thought,  no  recognized  intel 
lectual  process,  when  suddenly  he  gave  a  start  to 
perceive  a  figure  standing  at  the  French  window  that 
came  down  to  the  floor  of  the  veranda.  It  was  Mrs. 
Faurie.  She  opened  one  of  the  long  sashes  from  out 
side,  and  entered  without  ceremony. 

"  Why,  how  cosy  you  look  in  here ! "  she  exclaimed. 
"  '  There  are  none  so  deaf  as  those  who  will  not  hear.' 
No  wonder  you  did  not  answer." 

"  Were  you  calling  me?"  he  asked,  with  an  apolo 
getic  cadence.  He  had  started  to  rise,  but  Mrs.  Faurie 
had  herself  sunk  into  a  chair,  and  he  resumed  his  seat. 

70 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

She  was  looking  about  her  with  an  intent,  bright 
interest.  "  I  think  that  we  never  quite  appreciated  this 
old  room.  What  a  scholarly  look  your  rearrangement 
has  brought  into  it!  That  old  telescope, — why,  you 
have  mounted  it  again !  How  nice  to  put  it  in  the 
centre  of  the  bay  window  —  it  is  just  the  right  height 
for  observations  of  the  sky,  and  can  sweep  it  in  three 
directions.  Somebody  yanked  it  off  its  stand  long  ago 
to  read  the  names  on  passing  steamboats  from  the 
veranda." 

As  she  leaned  her  elbow  on  the  arm  of  the  chair 
and  turned  her  beautifully  poised  head,  he  could  not 
keep  his  eyes  from  her.  She  embodied  to  his  mind 
the  poetic  ideal  of  all  the  beauties  of  fable  or  his 
tory.  She  was  as  a  flout  to  the  commonplace  aspect 
of  the  day,  to  her  associates,  her  surroundings,  her 
own  words  and  identity,  and  to  himself.  He  could  not 
accustom  his  eyes  to  such  peculiar  and  preeminent 
perfection.  Her  charms  seemed  heightened  at  the 
moment  by  the  embellishments  of  dress;  for  since 
luncheon  she  had  made  a  toilet  for  the  afternoon,  of 
a  richness  which  she  had  not  hitherto  affected,  —  a 
note  of  compliment  to  her  guests.  She  was  younger 
of  aspect;  her  face  seemed  that  of  some  radiant  girl, 
though  proud,  assured,  dominant.  Her  gown  was  of 
gray  silk,  quiet  in  tone  and  not  heavy  of  texture,  the 
brocaded  pattern  being  a  plume  shading  from  darker 
gray  to  a  tip  of  white.  She  wore  on  her  richly  tinted 
brown  hair  a  velvet  picture-hat  of  the  same  gray 
hue,  with  a  line  of  vivid  white  about  the  brim,  and 
apparently  the  ostrich  plume  of  gray,  that  the  bro- 

71 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

caded  gown  simulated,  coiled  about  the  crown,  its 
white  tip  drooping  to  her  shoulder.  And  against  this 
neutral  background  the  splendor  of  her  beauty  glowed, 
her  complexion  so  exquisite,  her  lips  scarlet,  her  gray 
eyes  so  full  and  fine  and  lordly  in  their  expression, 
and  with  those  imperious  brows  so  delicately  drawn 
above.  Somehow  he  could  not  hold  his  own  before 
them.  Never  heretofore  had  eyes  challenged  him  that 
he  dared  not  meet.  Her  evident  unconsciousness  of 
the  impression  her  beauty  must  make  upon  him  added 
to  his  embarrassment.  It  was  like  talking  to  one  in  a 
mask  or  under  a  disguise.  He  could  not  speak  to  mother 
of  hobbledehoys,  householder,  butterfly  of  fashion, 
while  these  incongruous  characters  were  blended  into 
the  personality  of  Juno,  or  the  ideal  of  the  moon,  or  a 
muse  of  poetry.  He  was  glad  that  she  busied  those 
radiant  glances  in  scanning  the  sombre  old  room,  and 
his  chance  bedizenment  of  it  with  such  cast-off  gear 
as  had  come  to  his  hand. 

"  Are  the  lenses  of  the  telescope  all  right  ?  Well, 
that 's  a  blessing !  And  you  have  brought  out  that 
old  geological  cabinet." 

"  It  contains  some  quite  valuable  specimens,"  said 
Desmond.  He  deprecated  his  tone;  it  seemed  to  him 
as  if  he  were  making  excuses.  "  A  few  are  genuinely 


rare." 


Mrs.  Faurie  nodded  her  comprehension.  "So  I 
suppose ;  an  uncle  of  Mr.  Faurie's  had  quite  a  fad  in 
that  direction." 

"Mr.  Stanlett?"  asked  Desmond,  surprised. 

"  No,  —  Mr.  Stanlett  is  my  uncle.  This  was  a  rela- 

72 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

tive  of  Mr.  Faurie's,  with  quite  literary  tastes;  and 
oh,  —  that  old  screen  !  —  I  had  forgotten  it  com 
pletely,  —  skeleton  leaves  mounted  between  plates  of 
crystal." 

"  There  is  nothing  so  symmetrical,  to  my  mind,  in 
all  nature  as  the  various  tree-forms,"  Desmond  com 
mented  ;  "  those  outlines  are  grace  itself,  both  in  the 
denuded  shape  of  the  leaf  and  the  tracery  of  the 
veins.  Their  preparation  is  exquisitely  done." 

"  They  look  like  lace  !  "  she  remarked.  "  If  you 
are  fond  of  tree-forms,  you  ought  to  have  a  beautiful 
time  in  the  woods  at  Great  Oaks  "  —  she  drew  a  deep 
sigh.  "  We  have  little  else  to  offer  as  entertainment; ; 
but  we  are  long  on  wilderness !  Will  the  children 
study  botany?" 

"  Perhaps,  —  as  a  reward  of  merit,  —  when  they 
shall  have  learned  something  in  the  indispensable 
branches." 

Mrs.  Faurie  hastily  changed  the  subject.  "I  am 
glad  that  you  find  enough  interest  in  these  things  to 
resurrect  them.  I  remember  now  that  they  were  in 
that  big  old  mahogany  press  in  the  alcove." 

She  rose  suddenly,  opened  the  door  of  the  press, 
and  looked  in,  her  head  poised  inquiringly.  There 
seemed  nothing  to  attract  her  explorations,  and  she 
returned  to  her  chair. 

"  That 's  where  you  found  the  frames  for  those  old 
steel  engravings;  the  arrangement  of  them  is  very 
inspiring,  much  better  than  that  ragged  old  portfolio, 
which  I  see  you  have  relegated  to  the  press,  where 
it  ought  to  be.  I  wonder  what  used  to  be  in  those 

73 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

frames;  but  they  are  the  very  thing  for  steel  engrav 
ings."  For  between  the  bookshelves  and  the  row  of 

o 

cupboards  below,  a  blank  space  of  paneled  wood  had 
received  a  series  of  small  framed  portraits  of  the  great 
men  in  the  world  of  letters  and  scientific  achievement. 
The  pictures  were  unharmed  by  time,  save  for  spotted 
and  yellowed  margins,  but  the  suggestion  of  antiquity 
better  accorded  with  the  old  and  worn  fittings  of  the 
place  than  fresher  equipment. 

"  What  did  you  find  of  interest  in  the  cupboards 
of  the  bookcases  ?  " 

"  They  are  locked,"  said  Desmond,  a  trifle  out  of 
countenance  to  have  tried  doors  obviously  closed 
against  intrusion. 

"  Why,  how  odd  !  There  must  be  lots  of  things  in 
them  which  would  interest  you."  As  if  she  could  not 
trust  the  vigor  of  his  experiment,  she  rose  once  more 
and  flitted  across  the  room,  trying  first  one,  then 
another  of  the  small  doors.  They  were  without  knobs, 
and  only  a  key  that  might  fit  could  open  them.  She 
had  evidently  broken  a  nail  in  her  efforts  to  draw  the 
doors  ajar  by  the  moulding,  and  she  was  looking 
somewhat  ruefully  at  her  dainty  fingers  as  she  re 
turned.  Not  to  remain  seated  at  ease  while  she  labored 
to  open  the  obdurate  cabinets,  Desmond  had  followed 
her  about  the  room,  making  similar  efforts  wherever 
the  door  seemed  a  less  close  fit;  and  as  she  took  her 
chair  by  the  fire  he  resumed  his  place  near  her,  listen 
ing  attentively  as  she  talked  on.  "I  remember  that 
there  are  many  old  English  periodicals  there, — the 
'  Gentleman's  Magazine/  the  '  London  Magazine/ 

74 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

the  '  Annual  Register/  all  from  the  beginning  of 
their  issue,  and  a  thousand  old  scientific  and  literary 
pamphlets.  Why  should  they  be  locked  up  ?  Perhaps 
Uncle  Clarence  may  have  the  key;  if  not,  we  may  find 
one  about  the  house  that  will  fit,  or  on  that  little 
trading-boat  where  Chubby  bought  my  apple,  don't 
you  know?" — with  an  animated  glance.  "It  has 
been  off  on  the  bayous  and  lakes  since  then,  and  it 
dropped  down  the  river  to-day  and  tied  up  at  our  land 
ing  — it  may  have  a  bunch  of  keys  among  its  treasures 
of  junk.  We  must  try  that  expedient,  at  all  events.  I 
know  you  would  enjoy  exploring  those  nooks,  and 
you  might  find  something  that  would  interest  you. 
What  are  you  writing  ? — something  for  publication  ?  " 

He  drew  back  in  surprise,  embarrassed,  half  flat 
tered,  protesting.  "  Oh,  no,  —  only  jotting  down  a  few 
thoughts  that  struck  me,  —  of  no  value  to  the  public, 
— for  my  own  entertainment,  or  rather  my  own  satis 
faction,  —  a  sort  of  argument,  pro  and  con,  on  some 
questions  of  political  economy  that  were  never  clear 
to  my  own  mind,  never  justified  to  my  own  point 
of  view.  It  is  in  a  sort  a  dialogue,  thoughts  that, 
expressed  otherwise,  would  bore  the  life  out  of  any 
interlocutor." 

"But  why  don't  you  arrange  to  write  something 
for  publication  while  you  are  here,  Mr.  Desmond  ?  — 
not  history,  for  of  course  this  library  is  too  general 
in  selection  to  afford  you  the  data  requisite,  but  — 
something  else;  why  won't  questions  of  political 
economy  do?  something  —  I  don't  know  what, —  but 
something  for  publication  and  permanent  interest." 

75 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  Why,  I  could  n't,"  said  Desmond,  flushing  pain 
fully,  so  close  had  she  come  to  his  grief  for  the  relin 
quished  ambitions  of  achievement.  "  I  am  not  capa 
ble  of  that  kind  of  thing.  Besides,  I  came  here  to 
teach—" 

"  Surely  you  don't  have  to  sit  up  o'  nights  to  pre 
pare  for  Chubby 's  lessons  !  And  you  can't  work  the 
boys  all  day ;  you  have  to  let  them  stretch  their  mus 
cles  in  the  afternoon.  You  think  that  more  consecu 
tive  time  would  be  necessary,  —  more  concentration 
—  well,  perhaps,  —  I  am  not  up  to  such  things  my 
self.  Such  ideas  as  I  have  are  originated  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye.  At  all  events,  you  have  made 
this  a  mighty  pleasant  place  to  read  and  rest  and  jot 
down  any  vagrant  ideas  that  may  be  roaming  around 
when  your  day's  work  is  done." 

She  lay  back  in  her  chair  and  let  her  eyes  rove 
smilingly  about  the  changes  in  the  aspect  of  the 
room.  "  I  should  n't  be  surprised  if  you  will  have  to 
share  the  library  now.  I  dare  say  that  all  the  rest 
of  us  will  want  to  *  butt  in,'  as  the  boys  say."  She 
laughed  with  a  mischievous  relish  of  the  grotesque 
phrase  and  its  unseemliness  on  her  dainty  lips. 

On  the  low  marble  mantelpiece  were  figures  in 
bronze  of  two  of  the  muses,  Clio  and  Calliope,  evi 
dently  costly  and  of  some  artistic  merit,  and  Desmond 
had  crossed  on  the  wall  above  them  two  long  swords, 
that  had  stood  in  a  corner  of  the  room,  genuine 
relics  of  warfare  that  had  seen  grim  service,  and  in 
their  way  carved  out  records  in  both  history  and 
poetry.  An  oil  painting,  a  spirited  battle-piece,  was 

76 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

still  above,  the  scarlet  uniforms  giving  an  intense 
note  of  color  among  the  prevailing  tints  of  grape- 
blue  with  which  the  room  was  furnished.  Desmond 
had  not  inquired  as  to  its  subject,  and  the  signature 
of  the  painter  was  not  familiar  to  him.  Its  execution 
did  not  rise  above  a  respectable  mediocrity,  save  for 
the  central  figure,  a  commanding  officer,  who,  with 
raised  hat  and  mounted  on  a  white  charger,  seemed 
galloping  down  the  line  of  troops  and  straight  out  of 
the  picture  at  the  spectator. 

All  these  details  did  Mrs.  Faurie  successively  scan 
as  she  sat  languidly  pulling  on  a  pair  of  long  gray 
gloves ;  all  were  brought  into  new  significance,  into 
added  harmony,  in  the  readjustment  of  the  room. 
She  seemed  at  great  leisure,  and  it  was  some  time 
before  she  spoke  again. 

"  You  give  a  very  beguiling  aspect  to  scholastic 
labor.  I  don't  think  that  I  should  mind  learning  a 
thing  or  two,  myself,  from  you  here." 

She  looked  at  him  with  a  smile  touching  the  curv 
ing  lines  of  her  lips.  His  cheek  flushed.  He  lifted 
his  head  as  he  returned  her  look.  It  was  a  fine  head, 
and  was  well  poised  on  his  broad  shoulders.  That 
wonderful  magnetic  smile  of  hers  was  addressed  to 
him,  and  he  must  needs  have  been  more  than  human 
had  he  not  responded  to  its  subtle,  unconscious 
flattery.  He  had  been  so  reduced  in  pride,  in  the 
esteem  of  the  specious  world,  so  thwarted,  agonized, 
deprived,  humiliated,  that  this  look  of  interest,  of 
rallying  mirth,  of  alluring  charm,  was  singularly 
suave  to  his  sensitive  perceptions.  For  a  moment 

77 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

his  face  was  as  it  used  to  be ;  his  dark  blue  eyes 
had  a  serene  light,  confident,  spirited;  they  were 
smiling  in  their  turn.  His  expression  was  lifted  out 
of  its  wonted  cold  constraint,  —  it  was  earnest,  ar 
dent  ;  and  he  seemed  to  Colonel  Kentopp,  pausing 
at  the  window  on  the  veranda,  as  handsome  a  man  as 
could  be  found  between  Lake  Itasca  and  the  Balize ; 
he  was  stricken  with  amaze  by  the  mutual  expression 
of  the  two. 

"  It  would  be  my  place  and  privilege  to  sit  at  your 
feet,  Mrs.  Faurie,"  said  Desmond. 

Perhaps  because  she  was  acclimated  to  the  language 
of  admiration  and  missed  it  sorely  at  Great  Oaks, 
perhaps  because  she  was  so  genuinely  pleased  with 
the  tutor  as  a  tutor  that  she  could  but  approve  him 
as  a  man,  she  cast  upon  him  a  warm  radiance  from 
her  beautiful  eyes,  and  broke  out  laughing  and  flush 
ing  as  a  much  younger  woman  might  have  done. 

"What  a  pretty  speech,  Mr.  Desmond,  —  and  how 
pitifully  insincere !  What  under  heaven  could  you 
hope  to  learn  from  me  ?  ' 

He  had  not  seen  before  that  exquisite  dimple  in 
her  cheek,  for  she  seldom  laughed  with  such  exu 
berant  mirth,  or  perhaps  he  might  not  have  answered 
with  such  definite  aplomb. 

"  I  should  learn  those  higher  things  beyond  the 
ken  of  books,"  he  declared. 

Before  the  fire  was  quenched  in  Desmond's  eyes, 
the  pose  of  his  head  shifted,  the  flush  on  his  cheek 
faded,  while  yet  the  whole  changed  aspect  of  the  man 
was  patent,  Colonel  Kentopp  conceived  it  beneath  his 

78 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

dignity  to  stand  on  the  veranda  and  look  in  the 
Horary  window  at  what  seemed  to  him  singularly  like 
a  flirtation  between  his  hostess  and  the  tutor  of  her 
sons.  He  forthwith  laid  his  hand  on  the  window- 
catch,  and  as  it  clicked  in  opening,  Mrs.  Faurie  turned 
and  burst  into  a  peal  of  silvery  laughter  while  he 
slowly  and  ponderously  entered. 

"How  funny!"  she  exclaimed.  "Where  is  our 
walk  on  the  levee  ?  Have  all  our  party  fallen  by  the 
way  or  dispersed  ?  I  took  upon  me  the  mission  to  find 
Mr.  Desmond,  and  I  suppose  the  rest  sent  you  to 
find  me." 

Colonel  Kentopp  could  not  smooth  out  the  frown 
that  would  gather  and  be  dissipated  to  corrugate  his 
brow  anew  as  he  listened.  She  seemed  all  joyous 
unconsciousness  and  insouciance,  yet  this  might  be 
affected.  He  could  not  judge  whether  she  was 
merely  carrying  off  the  awkwardness  of  having  been 
so  absorbed  in  the  tutor's  conversation  as  to  forget 
her  waiting  guests  and  her  own  errand,  which  was  to 
invite  him  to  join  the  party  in  a  walk  along  the  levee, 
or  whether  she  was  genuinely  interested  as  she  called 
Colonel  Kentopp's  attention  to  the  changes  by  which 
Mr.  Desmond  had  so  enhanced  the  attractions  of  the 
library.  Colonel  Kentopp,  who  was  as  far  removed 
from  the  possibility  of  the  appreciation  of  any  liter 
ary  point  as  a  man  of  intelligence  and  education  can 
well  be,  surveyed  with  blank  assent  the  details  which 
she  indicated  to  him. 

"I  thought,"  he  could  not  refrain  from  saying, 
"that  you  always  declared  that  you  did  not  care 

79 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

un  sou  marque  how  things  look  at  Great  Oaks  Plan 
tation." 

"But  this  is  not  ' things' — it  is  thought;  it  was 
done  with  an  idea,  —  an  inspiration.  There  never  was 
a  duller  and  a  dowdier  old  room,  and  now  it  is  re 
plete  with  suggestion,  with  charm,  with  all  the  allure 
ments  of  learning ;  and  miracle  of  all,  without  the 
expenditure  of  a  cent  of  money." 

"  Take  care,  Mrs.  Faurie,"  said  Colonel  Kentopp, 
laughing  in  that  mirthless,  rallying  way  in  which 
privileged  friends  give  themselves  the  pleasure  of 
saying  a  disagreeable  thing  in  the  guise  of  jest; 
"  after  all  your  open-handed  career,  you  may  become 
a  miser  yet." 

"  Heaven  send  the  day ! "  she  exclaimed.  And 
long,  long  afterward  Desmond  remembered  the  phrase 
and  her  look  as  she  uttered  the  words.  "  It  might  be 
better  for  me  and  mine  if  the  open  hand  had  been 
always  the  close  fist."  Then  she  broke  off  suddenly, — 
"  Why,  there  is  Mrs.  Kentopp." 

For  that  lady  was  coming  in,  laughing  very  much, 
which  always  started  her  pink  flush  to  justify  her 
blonded  hair,  and  declaring  that  she  had  almost  gone 
to  sleep  on  the  sofa  in  the  parlor,  while  they  neg 
lected  her  and  kept  her  waiting.  If  Colonel  Kentopp 
had  had  scant  appreciation  of  the  esthetic  value  of 
the  changes  that  Desmond  had  wrought  in  the  aspect 
of  the  library,  Mrs.  Kentopp's  glacial,  superficial 
glance  at  its  details  implied  absolute  disregard.  It 
might  have  been  a  lesson  to  reduce  the  vanity  of  those 
purblind  insects  denominated  men  of  science,  who 

80 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

grope  about  the  hidden  meanings  of  the  universe,  who 
seek  to  "unclench  from  the  granite  hand  of  Nature  her 
mighty  secrets,"  to  bring  near  the  stars,  to  revive  the 
dead  life  of  the  rocks,  to  discern  the  brush  that  paints 
the  flower  and  leaf,  to  descry  whence  comes  the 
fashion  of  the  cloud,  to  find  out  the  paths  of  the  track 
less  oceans,  could  they  have  appraised  the  degree  of 
Mrs.  Kentopp's  contempt  for  their  objects  as  her 
eyes  rested  upon  the  insignia  afforded  by  the  tele 
scope,  the  geological  cabinet,  the  skeleton  leaves,  the 
epitome  of  history  and  poetry  above  the  mantelpiece. 
Her  flout  of  intentional  inattention  was  so  patent, 
her  air  of  minimizing,  almost  ridiculing  the  impor 
tance  of  the  tutor  and  all  which  to  him  pertained,  that 
it  became  obvious  to  the  other  two  that  the  afternoon 
walk  was  in  order,  and  they  were  presently  sauntering 
down  the  veranda,  while  Desmond  ran  for  his  hat. 

To  Desmond's  surprise,  he  was  not  in  the  slightest 
degree  mortified,  nor  intimidated,  nor  crushed  by 
Mrs.  Kentopp's  manner,  as  she  had  doubtless  in 
tended  he  should  be.  He  was  noting  the  fact  that, 
despite  their  apparent  intimacy,  these  people  did  not 
cull  each  other  by  their  Christian  names  after  the 
manner  of  their  sort  elsewhere.  It  had  never  been 
the  custom  in  this  region,  where  a  certain  formality 
of  the  old  regime  still  lingers,  and  he  felt  a  kind  of 
special  gratitude  that  he  was  not  called  upon  to  en 
dure  to  hear  Mrs.  Faurie  address  Colonel  Kentopp  as 
"  Tom,"  and  his  wife  as  "  Annetta,"  and  their  respon 
sive  familiarity  to  her  as  "  Honoria." 

The  four  walked  abreast  along  the  winding  avenue 

81 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

under  the  boughs  of  the  dense  trees  of  the  grove, 
which  was  perfectly  clear  of  undergrowth  and  as  level 
as  a  floor.  Now  and  again  the  colonnades  formed  by 
the  great  boles  parted  to  show  beautiful  open,  grassy 
vistas  amongst  the  gigantic  growths  that  had  given 
the  place  its  name ;  but  the  eye  could  reach  no  limits 
of  the  forest,  save  on  one  side  where  the  river  had 
come  "  cranking  in  and  cut  a  monstrous  cantle  out." 
The  party  struck  off  presently  into  a  byway,  which  at 
length  brought  them  into  the  road  at  the  base  of  the 
levee.  Here  they  climbed  the  great  embankment  cov 
ered  with  Bermuda  grass.  The  short,  dense  growth 
was  evidently  feeling  the  spring  of  the  year  in  its 
thick  mat  of  roots  that  held  the  earth  together,  being 
an  almost  impervious  network  of  innumerable,  inter 
lacing  fibres,  and  of  special  utility  because  of  its  im- 
perviousness  in  times  of  "  fighting  water."  As  they 
took  their  way  along  the  broad  path  upon  the  sum 
mit,  they  could  view  from  the  elevation,  of  peculiar 
advantage  in  so  flat  a  country,  a  vast  circuit  of  the 
surrounding  landscape.  The  water  was  high  and  the 
river  was  still  on  the  rise.  The  space  outside  the  levee 
seemed  to  Desmond  to  have  shrunken  very  percepti 
bly  since  he  had  seen  it  a  few  days  before.  This  stjip 
varied  greatly  in  width  ;  now  it  looked  at  the  distance 
as  if  it  might  measure  a  mile  or  more,  and  at  certain 
points  it  showed  only  a  few  hundred  yards,  with  here 
and  there  marshy  intimations  and  disconnected  pools 
where  the  water  stood  and  reflected  the  light  like  oval 
mirrors.  The  sun,  down-dropping,  vermilion  red,  had 
turned  all  the  currents  of  the  great  stream  to  crimson, 

82 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

and  as  it  sunk  lower  and  lower  the  shadows  began  to 
gloom  in  the  dense  woods  on  the  hither  shore,  albeit 
there  was  still  a  line  of  gilding  sunlight  glinting 
along  the  forest  summits. 

It  was  all  very  quiet ;  not  a  craft  was  visible  on 
the  currents ;  the  vast  river  was  absolutely  mute.  De 
spite  the  fact  that  this  is  one  of  the  great  highways 
of  the  world,  a  natural  channel  from  boreal  to  sub 
tropical  climes,  designed,  one  might  fancy,  to  bring 
man  near  his  brother  man,  without  reference  to  his 
own  ingenuity  of  device,  —  in  conquering  the  wilder 
ness,  harnessing  the  steam,  annulling  time,  and  obliter 
ating  distance,  —  it  could  have  seemed  no  lonelier 
were  theirs  the  first  of  human  eyes  to  rest  upon  it. 
There  was  no  trace,  no  suggestion  of  man's  presence, 
save  the  great  embankment  of  the  levee  along  the 
river-side,  now  and  again  receding  so  far  inland  as  to 
elude  the  sight,  and  the  newly  arrived  "  shanty-boat" 
lying  at  the  landing. 

This  craft  held  the  degree  of  comparison  with  the 
usual  trading-boat  of  these  waters  that  a  junk-shop 
bears  to  a  warehouse.  Desmond's  attention  was  first 
attracted  to  the  humble  and  grotesque  nondescript 
vessel  when  Chub,  nimbly  footing  it  in  his  trim  little 
knickerbockers  and  well-filled  stockings  and  natty 
Paris  shoes,  to  overtake  the  group,  joined  his  mother ; 
he  began  to  hang  upon  her,  his  arm  about  her  waist, 
his  head  lolling  against  her  arm,  begging  and  plead 
ing  with  her  to  buy  him  a  bicycle,  —  a  beautiful 
second-hand  wheel,  —  which  the  amphibious  trader 
had  assured  him  was  as  good  as  new. 

83 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  But  you  have  your  own  wheel,"  she  remonstrated. 
"  You  actually  want  another?  You  would  have  to  be 
a  quadruped  to  ride  both." 

"  And  a  long-eared  one  at  that ! "  Colonel  Ken- 
topp  declared,  somewhat  nettled ;  for  his  own  small 
son  had  come  np  on  the  other  side,  casting  up  lus 
trous,  anxious  eyes,  beseeching  that  if  Chub  did  not 
secure  this  treasure,  dear,  dear  papa  would  open  his 
heart  and  purse  and  bestow  it  upon  him ;  for  woe  to 
tell !  he  had  no  bicycle  whatever,  —  he  had  only  a 
tricycle,  and  a  bitter  blow  it  was  to  his  pride  when 
Chub  rode  a  safety  and  he  could  only  accompany 
him,  bowed  to  the  earth,  as  it  were,  on  a  humiliating 
three-wheeler. 

"  My  wheel  ?  —  Gracious  !  my  wheel  is  all  out  of 
whack!"  cried  the  tumultuous  Chub.  "Just  look  at 
it,  mamma,  —  that  is  all  I  ask.  Just  go  down  to  the 
trading-boat  and  look  at  the  wheel,  —  a  —  beautiful 
—  second-hand  —  bike  !  " 

"  But,  Chubby,  it  would  be  out  of  the  question  for 
you  to  own  two  wheels  and  both  already  used  —  " 

"  Mine 's  got  a  punctured  tire,"  wailed  Chub. 

"  Gimme  second  choice,  —  if  Chub  don't  make  it ; 
lemme  have  it,  papa  dear,"  beguiled  the  Kentopp 
hopeful. 

It  had  been  Desmond's  firm  determination,  rigidly 
observed  so  far,  that  he  would  have  no  concern  with 
his  pupils  other  than  scholastic.  He  would  consider 
the  trend  of  the  conversation  in  their  presence,  as 
indeed  is  necessary  always  in  association  with  young 
persons,  that  the  equilibrium  of  their  moral,  political, 

84 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

or  religious  convictions  be  not  shaken  till  they  are 
of  sufficient  age  and  discretion  to  exercise  a  sober 
and  independent  judgment.  He  would  direct  their 
thoughts  to  subjects  of  value  in  their  general  read 
ing.  He  would  impart  information  or  correct  mistaken 
impressions  in  the  course  of  casual  chat.  He  would 
in  moments  of  recreation  narrate  details  of  special 
interest  or  amusement,  and  thus  further  incidentally 
the  judicious  development  of  their  mental  faculties. 
But  with  the  problems  of  their  control  outside  the 
schoolroom,  their  sports,  their  manners,  their  moral 
training,  he  would  not  tax  himself.  This  was  in  a 
manner  interference,  however  salutary,  and  might  be 
resented  by  those  in  actual  authority,  resulting  in  an 
archy  for  the  youths,  and  their  last  estate  would  be 
worse  than  their  first.  He  thus  argued  that  he  did 
not  stand  in  loco  par entis ;  he  was  simply  a  machine 
for  the  furtherance  of  learning,  a  paid  purveyor  of 
wisdom,  and  when  his  day's  work  was  ended  his 
responsibility  ceased  for  the  day.  Therefore  he  was 
surprised  at  himself  when  he  stepped  forward  briskly, 
as  Mrs.  Faurie,  with  a  somewhat  doubtful  and  dis 
consolate  air,  yielded  so  far  as  to  agree  to  examine  the 
treasure,  and  turned  to  the  descent  of  the  levee  on 
the  outer  side. 

"  Let  me  go  and  examine  the  wheel,  Mrs.  Faurie, 
and  report  its  condition  to  you ;  I  understand  these 
machines  better,  probably,  than  you  do." 

She  turned  back  with  a  wave  of  the  hand,  —  a  fine, 
free  gesture  at  arm's  length.  "A  rescue!"  she  ex 
claimed.  "  I  was  just  wondering  if  I  could  survive  the 

85 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

unmitigated  boredom  of  the  tires,  and  the  bell,  and 
the  handle-bar,  and  the  pedals,  and  the  saddle.  Is  the 
date  set  for  your  canonization,  Mr.  Desmond  ?  Go,  by 
all  means,  and  add  another  to  your  deeds  of  grace." 

But  Chub  emitted  a  disconcerted  whine.  "I  don't 
wish  you  to  go,  Mr.  Desmond,"  he  plained,  with  the 
unwitting  insolence  of  juvenile  sincerity. 

Desmond  was  not  out  of  countenance ;  he  even 
sustained  the  furtive  sneer  in  Mrs.  Kentopp's  face. 
"  Just  as  it  happens,  I  don't  care  in  the  least  what 
you  wish." 

"  Now,  there  it  is,  mamma.  I  want  the  bike,  and 
Mr.  Desmond  does  n't  care  what  I  want;  he  says 


so." 

(C 


It  ought  to  be  little  trouble  to  teach  the  logical 
ideas  of  the  clever  Chub  to  shoot  straight,"  com 
mented  Colonel  Kentopp. 

"  Well,  then,"  Mrs.  Faurie  could  not  resist,  "  sup 
pose  I  go,  too.  Mr.  Desmond  can  instruct  me  as  to 
the  perfection  of  the  tires  and  the  bell  and  the 
handle-bar,  and  the  tumbling  guaranty,  warranted 
to  give  the  best  headers  in  the  market,"  —  she  was 
looking  down  with  her  gracious  maternal  smile  at 
Chub,  as  in  his  tumultuous  callowness  he  clamored 
and  clung  about  her  skirts  ("  Oh,  rats !  mamma,  it 's 
got  no  tumbling  guaranty,"  he  interposed),  —  "  and 
in  the  mean  time  I  can  meditate  on  the  price." 

"  But,  mamma,  it  is  cheap,  — it  is  dirt  cheap,  — it 
is  dog  cheap." 

"  What  is  the  price?"  Desmond  demanded. 

When  Chub  responded,  the  tutor  might  have  had 

86 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

a  salutary  monition  of  the  discretion  of  his  resolu 
tion  to  keep  apart  from  the  affairs  of  his  pupils  out 
side  the  schoolroom.  "  You  just  wait  and  see,"  said 
Chub,  sullenly. 

"Come  !  "  cried  Mrs.  Faurie,  her  foot  poised  on  the 
verge  of  the  outer  descent  of  the  levee,  her  skirts 
held  daintily  clear  of  the  grass  with  her  left  hand, 
her  right  about  the  shoulders  of  the  enterprising 
Chub.  She  looked  back  with  bright  expectation  at 
the  Kentopps  as  they  stood  motionless. 

"Thank  you,  no,"  said  Colonel  Kentopp.  "We 
will  await  you  here.  I  shan't  put  myself  in  tempta 
tion's  way.  To  be  dragooned  into  buying  a  crippled 
bike  from  such  a  trading-boat  as  that  would  be  the 
final  blow  to  my  paternal  authority." 

He  and  his  wife  looked  gravely  after  the  pedes 
trians  while  standing  together  on  the  summit  of  the 
levee.  The  sparkle  and  suavity  of  their  counte 
nances,  addressed  to  the  exigencies  of  society,  were 
dying  out.  They  both  seemed  years  older  in  a  mo 
ment.  Mrs.  Kentopp's  haggard  pallor  was  unrelieved 
by  the  flush  that  was  wont  to  come  and  go  as  she 
laughed,  and  a  certain  pendulous  effect  of  the  cheeks 
became  noticeable  in  the  immobile  contemplativeness 
of  her  expression.  Her  husband  was  more  saturnine 
than  one  could  have  imagined  from  his  arrogations 
of  bonhomie.  He  had  a  spark  of  irritation  in  his 
eyes,  too  sharply  flashing  to  have  been  kindled 
merely  by  the  persistence  of  his  little  son,  now  pick 
ing  his  way  after  the  group  bound  toward  the  trad- 
ing-boat,  now  pausing  irresolute. 

87 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  Mr.  Stanlett  is  certainly  in  his  dotage  !  "  Colonel 
Kentopp  exclaimed  acridly.  "  I  never  could  have 
imagined  him  guilty  of  such  folly  as  to  bring  that 
man  here." 

"Why,  what  is  the  matter  with  the  man?"  —  his 
wife  had  a  short,  crisp  tone,  level  and  direct,  and  all 
devoid  of  the  little  aspirations  and  sudden  rising 
inflections  and  exclamatory  interludes  which  inter 
spersed  the  tenor  of  her  usual  discourse. 
,  "  The  matter,  —  why,  he  is  as  handsome  as  a  pic 
ture  !  He  has  the  dignity  of  a  lord,  and  I  never  saw 
a  man  who  seemed  more  highly  bred." 

"Well,"  —  she  drawled,  "don't  you  consider  those 
facts  advantages  ?  A  stranger  in  one's  house  is  al 
ways  a  nuisance,  but  it  is  better  that  a  tutor  or  gov 
erness  should  be  as  genteel  as  possible." 

"Great  Scott !  Annetta,  how  can  you  be  so  dense? 
He  is  a  man  whom  Honoria  Faurie  might  very  well 
elect  to  fall  in  love  with  and  marry." 

Mrs.  Kentopp  laughed  in  derision,  —  not  her 
breathy,  flushing,  becoming  laughter,  but  a  simple 
cackle  of  scorn.  "  Why,  he  is  young  enough  to  be 
her  son." 

"  He  is  ten  years  younger,  —  that  is  all." 

"All!  Ten  years  is  enough.  No  doubt  she  seems 
an  old  lady  to  him." 

"  You  would  n't  think  so  if  you  had  caught  a 
glimpse  of  his  face  as  I  saw  them  talking  together 
in  the  library.  They  would  make  a  very  comely  mar 
ried  couple." 

"  Why,  Tom  Kentopp,  you  are  wild !    She  would 

88 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

have  to  give  up  that  big  income  if  she  married,  — 
thirty  thousand  dollars  of  it  every  year  are  as  certain 
as  taxes,  chargeable  on  the  whole  estate,  and  the 
Great  Oaks  crops  besides,  —  and  take  instead  only 
her  dower  rights  in  Tennessee,  —  just  a  life  interest 
in  a  third  of  the  real  property,  with  that  old  Nash 
ville  residence,  in  a  locality  that  is  awfully  unfashion 
able  nowadays,  —  she  has  never  lived  there  since  Mr. 
Faurie's  death,  —  and  a  fourth  of  the  Mississippi 
property.  And  such  a  sacrifice  for  such  a  man,  — 
a  penniless  tutor !  Why,  if  it  were  not  way  down 
here  in  the  swamp,  he  would  seem  hardly  of  more 
consequence  than  a  courier." 

"  Exactly ;  it  is  a  mighty  lonesome  country  for  a 
pretty  widow,  and  he  is  a  mighty  fine  man." 

Mrs.  Kentopp  grew  grave.  "  I  never  was  more 
surprised  than  when  he  came  into  the  parlor.  I  ex 
pected  to  see  a  little  lean,  wizened  body,  like  the  man 

they  had  last,  —  little  Mr. ,  Mr. ,  I  have 

forgotten  the  little  animal's  name.  This  man  is  not 
at  all  what  a  tutor  should  be  in  appearance  ;  he  carries 
himself  as  if  he  owned  the  world.  And  his  look  of 
cool,  assured  gravity  is  positively  insulting.  I  don't 
think  that  he  gave  himself  the  trouble  to  fetch  out 
a  smile  throughout  luncheon." 

"  He  was  not  amused,  perhaps,"  Colonel  Kentopp 
suggested. 

"  But  he  should  be  amused  when  his  betters  choose 
to  be  merry,"  the  lady  retorted. 

"  It  would  be  a  deuced  unpleasant  thing  for  us," 
her  husband  resumed  the  matrimonial  speculation. 

89 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

"  As  long  as  Mrs.  Faurie  is  in  the  world  among  her 
peers,  and  the  value  of  that  large  and  certain  income 
is  forever  in  her  mind,  with  the  bliss  of  spending  it, 
and  living  like  a  princess,  I  am  not  afraid.  Besides, 
the  lords  and  counts  would  back  out  the  instant  the 
settlements  would  reveal  the  awful  trap  that  Faurie 
set  for  his  successor.  But  this  man,  this  Desmond, 
would  be  mighty  well  satisfied  with  the  division  that 
gives  her  a  life  interest  in  one  third  of  the  Tennessee 
real  estate  and  a  fourth  part  of  the  personalty  there, 
and  a  fourth  absolutely  of  everything  in  Mississippi. 
It  would  be  a  long  sight  better  than  tutoring.  He 
would  be  mighty  glad  for  another  fellow  to  be  hired 
to  teach  Chub,  —  especially  with  Chub's  own  money. 
Mrs.  Faurie  is  at  no  expense  on  her  sons'  account  — 
except  such  as  is  voluntary ;  she  gives  them  those 
costly  foreign  trips,  for  instance." 

"But  she,  —  she  wouldn't  be  satisfied  with  that 
provision ;  —  she  would  not  give  up  her  income  for 
any  man  living." 

"  This  is  a  very  exceptional  man,  and  this  is  the 
jumping-off  place  of  all  creation,"  persisted  Kentopp. 

Mrs.  Kentopp's  shallow  eyes  scanned  the  far 
reaches  of  the  Mississippi.  The  sun  was  no  longer 
visible,  but  the  vermilion  reflection  was  still  red  upon 
the  rippling  waters,  for  the  afterglow  was  in  the  sky. 
"  I  don't  see  how  Honoria  Faurie  manages  so  badly 
as  to  come  to  the  end  of  her  income  in  this  way ;  it 
is  positively  ridiculous,"  she  said,  with  a  sort  of  petu 
lance. 

Colonel  Kentopp  bit  off  the  end  of  his  cigar  and 

90 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

spat  it  forth  with  an  expression  that  suggested  it 
might  be  bitter,  but  his  thought  was  wormwood. 
"  Oh,  she  even  anticipates  her  income  as  far  as  she 
can,  —  she  spends  at  such  a  clip !  She  bought  her 
steam  yacht  with  her  savings,  Chub  told  me."  He 
smiled  derisively.  "  It  is  in  dock  now ;  it  ought  to 
have  been  chartered  while  she  is  on  dry  land." 

"  And  her  automobile  is  another  extravagance  ; 
why  could  n't  she  hire  a  touring-car  for  the  little 
time  that  she  is  rusticating  while  abroad  ?  " 

"  Princesses  don't  stoop  to  such  economies,  that  is, 
abroad.  Economy  befits  the  swamp.  I  have  nothing 
to  say  against  the  diamonds,  although  I  think  she 
might  well  have  been  satisfied  with  the  Faurie  family 
jewels,  —  nor  yet  those  wonderful  emeralds,  for  such 
*  savings '  have  an  intrinsic  value.  But  it  does  seem  a 
most  mischievous  mischance  that  she  should  have  to 
faire  maigre  here  in  the  swamp  just  at  this  time, 
with  such  a  hero  of  romance  as  Mr.  Stanlett  has 
introduced  as  tutor." 

"  Mr.  Stanlett  never  saw  him  till  he  was  engaged 
and  had  arrived.  I  heard  him  say  that  the  whole 
matter  was  arranged  by  correspondence  through  Mr. 
Keith,  the  boys'  guardian.  It  seems  that  he  and  the 
tutor  had  some  mutual  friends.  I  understand  that 
this  fellow  has  an  exceptional  collegiate  record, — 
though  if  he  has,  I  should  think  he  could  get  a  bet 
ter  place.  But  why  should  his  presence  here  concern 
us,  do  you  think  ?  " 

"  Because  if  there  were  a  prospect  that  the  Faurie 
property  might  come  on  the  market  for  division,  as 

91 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

the  result  of  her  marriage,  at  any  reasonably  early 
day,  we  should  never  be  able  to  sell  Dryad-Dene 
Plantation  to  Jack  Loring.  He  evidently  much  pre 
fers  Great  Oaks." 

Her  face  lowered  heavily.  "  I  was  just  beginning 
to  think  of  that,"  she  said,  now  dully  out  of  sorts. 

"  There  are  actual  advantages,"  he  argued.  "  Dryad- 
Dene  Plantation  is  subject  to  overflow,  and  Great 
Oaks  rarely  goes  under  unless  their  cross  levee  breaks. 
Our  lands  are  cut  up  with  bayous  and  sloughs,  while 
Great  Oaks  has  thousands  of  acres  as  level  as  a  floor 
and  as  dry  as  a  bone.  And  then  the  old  house,  the 
groves  and  the  glades.  Loring  is  as  new  as  yesterday, 
himself,  but  he  wants  a  place  reeking  of  ancestors 
and  aristocratic  traditions." 

"  I  don't  see  why ;  it  is  his  one  merit  that  he  grew 
in  a  single  night !  It  is  Jack  that  has  shot  up  so  sur 
prisingly  this  time,  and  not  the  beanstalk,"  said  Mrs. 
Kentopp,  sourly. 

"  He  is  n't  going  to  stay  new.  That  is  the  reason 
he  does  not  locate  somewhere  else.  The  Great  Oaks 
air  of  the  ancien  regime,  its  shabbiness  and  out-at- 
elbows  look  of  romantic  poverty,  the  ruin  of  princes, 
on  account  of  that  woman's  grudging  neglect,  when 
it  is  really  bursting  with  richness  and  luxury,  would 
fill  his  bill  exactly.  Loring  would  be  furnished  with 
all  manner  of  aristocratic  hereditaments,  and  in  ten 
years  people  would  forget  that  he  was  not  born  at 
Great  Oaks.  His  people  were  natives  of  this  region, 
and  his  name  is  familiar  in  Deep  water  Bend  ;  he 
would  rather  own  Great  Oaks  than  anything  else  his 

92 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

millions  can  buy.  Let  him  once  hear  of  that  prince- 
in  disguise-looking  tutor,  of  fine  family  and  excep 
tional  cultivation,  in  constant  association  with  the 
beautiful  Mrs.  Faurie  !  He  is  not  precipitate  at  best. 
He  will  wait  till  the  division  of  the  Faurie  estate 
consequent  upon  a  second  marriage  puts  Great  Oaks 
up  at  auction  to  the  highest  bidder." 

Mrs.  Kentopp's  face  seemed  in  anxiety  to  suffer 
somewhat  of  a  collapse.  How,  it  might  be  impossible  to 
describe,  but  now  her  blonde  hair  showed  that  much 
of  it  near  her  face  was  false,  when  its  naturalness  of 
arrangement  had  rendered  this  suspicion  impossible 
hitherto.  She  was  one  of  the  women  not  pretty,  but 
who  contrive  to  compass  that  reputation  by  assuming 
the  pose,  the  conscious  attire,  the  bridling  expression. 
As  she  looked  now,  the  coquettishness  of  her  equip 
ment  was  a  painful  commentary  upon  her  appearance, 
haggard  with  disappointment  and  foreboding.  For 
the  Kentopps  had  scant  affinity  with  this  secluded  life 
in  the  Mississippi  bottom,  and  they  had  not  had 
such  resources  as  Mrs.  Faurie  for  shaking  its  mud  — 
one  cannot  say  its  dust  —  from  their  feet  for  indefi 
nite  periods  of  absence.  The  sale  o^ .Dryad-Dene  Plan 
tation,  with  its  elaborate  industrial  equipment  and 
beautiful  modern  residence,  would  make  possible  the 
dream  of  their  lives,  —  its  transmutation  into  a  hand 
some  town  house  in  New  Orleans  and  a  summer  cot 
tage  on  the  Gulf  coast,  with  lands  enough  somewhere 
at  the  minimum  price  to  rent  out  to  tenants  to  make 
cotton,  as  lands  are  created  to  do,  to  furnish  an  in 
come  for  the  absentees.  But  purchasers  for  a  property 

93 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

of  such  value  as  Dryad-Dene  are  rare,  and  the  ct- 
devant  swamper,  Loring,  who  had  grown  very  rich 
by  speculation,  was  one  of  the  few  men  who  cared  to 
invest  in  so  inconvertible  an  asset  as  a  fine  house 
and  large  plantation  in  Deep  water  Bend.  A  species  of 
self-assertion  it  was  to  him,  perchance.  Here  where  he 
was  born,  as  poor  as  poverty,  though  of  genteel  and 
respectable  parentage,  he  could,  as  a  bit  of  luxury,  own 
the  finest  estate  around  which  the  river  curved,  and  in 
the  scene  of  his  early  privations  have  its  magnates  in 
hot  competition  to  place  their  splendid  holdings  in  the 
best  light  for  his  somewhat  supercilious  appraisement. 

"  It  would  be  idiotic,  —  it  would  positively  be 
ridiculous  —  and  she  ten  years  older,"  Mrs.  Kentopp 
declared  bitterly. 

Suddenly,  like  the  lightning-change  effect  of  a  per 
former  on  the  stage,  she  resumed  her  wonted  aspect 
as  if  by  magic.  Her  cheeks  rounded  out ;  her  flush 
came  and  went;  her  lips  were  again  curving  and 
plump  with  distending  smiles  over  her  white  teeth ; 
her  eyes  were  all  a-sparkle  ;  and  she  was  waving  the 
end  of  her  long  feather  boa  in  a  response  of  exag 
gerated  mirth  to  a  fancied  greeting  from  the  door  of 
the  "  shanty-boat "  far  below.  Mrs.  Faurie  was  issu 
ing  thence,  lifting  one  of  her  delicate  hands,  gloved 
to  the  elbow  in  gray  kid ;  but  the  gesture  was  one  of 
protest.  She  was  not  looking  at  her  guests,  but  after 
a  loutish,  grotesque,  thick-set  man,  of  amphibious 
suggestions,  who  was  springing  with  great  leaps  up 
the  bank  with  an  open  knife  in  his  hand.  With  this 
he  so  swiftly  cut  the  rope  that  held  the  boat  to  a 

94 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

gnarled  old  tree,  that  the  craft,  feeling  the  impulse 
of  the  current,  began  to  move  from  the  shore  before 
Mrs.  Faurie  could  step  from  the  gang-plank  of  the 
deck  to  the  ground.  As  it  was,  the  ripples  ran  over  her 
feet,  and  she  exclaimed  aloud  in  agitation  and  sudden 
fright.  She  was  safely  on  the  bank  when  Desmond,  still 
on  the  deck,  sprang  lightly  across  the  ever-widening 
interval  of  water,  now  almost  impracticable,  swinging 
Chub  ashore  with  a  hand  under  each  of  the  boy's  arms. 
As  the  boatman  came  running  down  the  bank  Des 
mond  paused,  and  meeting  him  at  the  margin,  struck 
him  between  the  eyes  a  blow  so  fair  and  furious  that 
the  fellow  was  weltering  saurian-like  in  the  water 
before  he  scarcely  realized  that  he  had  been  felled. 
Perhaps  the  deficiencies  of  his  craft,  with  no  propel 
ling  power,  constrained  his  attention ;  perhaps  the 
vigor  of  the  blow  tamed  his  rancorous  rage.  He  made 
no  effort  at  reprisal,  though  Desmond  lingered  on  the 
bank,  but  struck  out  swimming  after  his  boat,  and 
turned,  only  when  once  more  safe  on  deck  and  out  of 
Desmond's  reach,  to  gaze  lowering  and  askance  across 
the  water,  with  a  look  at  once  vengeful,  amazed,  and 
dismayed. 

"What  can  have  happened?"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Ken- 
topp,  watching  the  scene  from  afar  with  wondering 
eyes.  "Mr.  Paragon  is  a  muscular  Christian,  it 


seems." 


"  He  is  very  injudicious,"  said  Colonel  Kentopp, 
gravely.  "  These  water-side  vagrants  are  often  dan 
gerous  rascals,  —  river  pirates.  Their  good-will  is 
safer  than  their  grudges." 


CHAPTER  V 

J_  HE  errand  within  the  cabin  of  the  shanty-boat 
had  not  proved  swift  or  easy  of  dispatch.  When 
Desmond  and  Mrs.  Faurie  had  approached  the  dingy 
and  plebeian  craft  along  the  muddy  bank,  he  once 
more  urged  that  she  should  wait  without  and  permit 
him  to  make  the  preliminary  examination. 

"  The  boat  is  clean !  "  cried  Chub,  on  the  defensive. 
"It  is  as  clean  as  any  other  old  place.  Mr.  Desmond 
is  so  particular.  It  is  n't  damp.  Its  smell  is  just  doo- 
licious." 

Chub  continued  insistent,  and  Mrs.  Faurie  once 
more  yielded. 

Oakum,  tar,  and  the  peculiar  and  distinctive  odor  of 
junk  were  the  blended  perfumes  thus  lauded  which 
floated  out  to  them  from  the  open  door  of  the  cabin. 
The  boat  was  gently  oscillating  on  the  current,  teeter 
ing  as  if  with  the  instinct  of  dance,  for  the  river  was 
at  flood  height,  and  even  thus  close  to  the  shore  the 
encroaching  waters  were  deep.  As  Mrs.  Faurie  and 
Desmond  made  their  way  along  the  gang-plank  to  the 
deck,  she  glanced  over  her  shoulder  at  the  great  cable 
that  held  the  craft  to  the  bank,  passed  again  and 
again  around  the  girth  of  a  tree.  "I  hope  she  is 
tied  up  fast  and  hard;  I  should  object  of  all  things 
to  go  floating  down  the  Mississippi  River,  the  in 
voluntary  guest  of  such  a  trading-boat,  impossible  to 
land  except  by  the  uncovenanted  grace  of  the  current." 

96 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

The  cabin  seemed  dark  at  first,  by  contrast  with 
the  pellucid  atmosphere  without.  A  formless  hodge 
podge  of  barrel  and  box,  of  bunk  and  junk,  it  pre 
sented,  until  the  eye  was  sufficiently  accustomed  to  its 
comparative  obscurity  to  discern  such  degree  of  sym 
metry  as  informed  its  arrangement.  One  end  was 
dedicated  to  the  domestic  life  of  the  proprietor;  hold 
ing  the  cooking  apparatus,  expressed  in  a  monkey 
stove  that  furnished  heat  as  well,  a  tier  of  bunks  on 
either  side,  a  few  broken-backed  chairs  grouped  around 
a  table,  a  gaunt,  pale  woman  in  a  tattered  gray 
woolen  skirt  and  a  man's  ragged  red  sweater,  with  a 
mass  of  dull,  straight  brown  hair  "  banged  "  across 
her  freckled  forehead  and  hanging  unkempt  down 
upon  her  shoulders.  She  held  in  her  arms  a  wan,  puny 
baby,  bent  on  sucking  its  thumb,  and  giving  the  uni 
verse  only  such  attention  as  it  could  spare  from  that 
absorbing  occupation.  Knowing  this  habit  to  be  an 
infringement  of  juvenile  etiquette,  the  woman  had 
tried  to  effect  a  diversion  the  instant  she  saw  the  flut 
ter  of  Mrs.  Faurie's  gray  silk  gown  at  the  door.  But 
a  house  cannot  be  set  in  order  for  distinguished  in 
spection  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  and  still  less  can  a 
neglected  infant's  conduct  be  immediately  brought  up 
to  standard.  A  piercing,  heart-rending  wail  made  the 
air  hideous,  and  as  the  released  thumb,  all  curiously 
translucent  and  blanched  and  reduced  in  size,  went 
back  into  the  child's  mouth,  Mrs.  Faurie,  entering, 
whirled  around  and  saw  both  the  effort  to  save  ap 
pearances  and  its  failure. 

She  shook  her  head  in  indignant  rebuke.  "  That 

97 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

will  never  do!"  she  said  imperiously.  "You  ought 
not  to  let  the  child  spoil  its  hand.  That  is  a  bad  habit, 
and  keeps  it  from  being  bright.  It  just  sogs  away 
over  that  old  thumb,  and  you  don't  care  so  long  as  it 
is  quiet  and  does  n't  worry  you." 

The  woman  rose  with  a  belligerent  toss  of  the  head. 
"  Mighty  easy  to  talk  !  —  mighty  easy  !  But  you  just 
wait,  young  lady,  till  you  gits  some  childern  of  yer 
own,  an'  see  if  you  won't  be  sorter  lax  todes  anythink 
that  will  keep  'em  from  yellin',  when  yer  head  is 
achin'  fit  ter  bust.  I  been  havin'  chills  and  ager  all 
winter." 

"/Some  children  of  my  own!"  Mrs.  Faurie  drew 
herself  up,  majestic  and  boastful.  "I  have  three  of  my 
own,  —  nearly  as  tall  as  I  am  —  three  !  This  "  —  pull 
ing  Chub  forward  —  "  is  my  baby,  —  and  does  n't 
suck  his  thumb,  and  never  did.  And  that  reminds 
me,"  she  continued,  as  the  forlorn  river  nymph  stared 
amazed  at  this  rich  and  brilliant  apparition  of  health, 
and  wealth,  and  beauty,  and  transcendent  youth  that 
might  have  seemed  immortal,  feeling  the  contrast 
God  knows  how  poignantly,  "  there  are  a  lot  of  baby- 
clothes  left  over  up  at  my  house  —  I  am  Mrs.  Faurie 
and  live  close  by;  —  they  will  fit  that  fellow  out  for  a 
year  or  two  to  come.  I  will  send  them  down  to  you 
this  evening  if  you  will  promise  to  put  some  pepper 
on  that  child's  thumb  to  keep  it  out  of  his  mouth." 

The  woman  murmured  her  thanks,  but  she  did  not 
feel  her  gratitude  so  acutely,  rags  and  dirt  being  the 
natural  concomitants  of  her  life,  as  her  interest  in 
this  resplendent  personage,  and  the  error  as  to  her 

98 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

age  and  state  of  life.  "  Lord !" —  she  smiled  broadly, 
showing  the  devastations  of  a  mouth  whence  many 
aching  teeth  had  been  "  rotted  out  with  bluestone"  in 
default  of  a  dentist's  care  —  "I  thought  you  was 
just  a  girl, — turned  twenty,  mebbe;  and  this"  —  she 
pointed  at  Desmond  —  "  was  your  courtin'  beau." 

Mrs.  Faurie  for  once  looked  embarrassed.  "  Oh, 
no,"  she  recovered  herself  swiftly;  "I  'm  getting  mid 
dle-aged  now.  And  where  is  the  bicycle,  Chubby?" 

The  other  end  of  the  cabin  was  fitted  up  as  a  store, 
with  shelves  about  the  walls  and  a  sort  of  counter. 
Here  were  displayed  toys  and  gewgaws  of  imitation 
jewelry  and  beads,  some  bolts  of  coarse  cloth,  a  glit 
ter  of  tinware,  some  earthen  and  wooden  bowls,  an 
assortment  of  candies  and  canned  goods,  tobacco, 
fine  cut  and  plug,  snuff,  and  some  boxes  of  cheap 
cigars.  Incongruously  enough,  among  these  things 
was  a  fine,  fresh  bicycle,  with  pneumatic  tires,  evi- 
dently  perfectly  new. 

Desmond  looked  sharply  across  the  counter  as  the 
sodden,  amphibious,  nondescript  animal  that  the  rafts 
man  seemed,  hardly  frog,  hardly  fish,  hardly  water- 
rat,  yet  partaking  of  the  characteristics  of  all  three, 
eyed  the  party  furtively  from  his  place  among  his 
medley  of  wares.  His  straight  red  hair  was  pulled 
forward  in  wisps  on  his  brow  as  if  it  had  been  wet 
in  a  ducking  and  matted  there.  His  big  black  hat  was 
on  the  back  of  his  head.  His  freckled,  red,  mottled 
face  had  a  sort  of  soaked,  bloated  suggestion.  He  hes 
itated  for  a  very  perceptible  interval  before  he  named 
the  price,  and  Mrs.  Faurie  exclaimed  in  surprise :  — 

99 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

"  Ten  dollars  !  Why,  Chubby,  you  told  me  that  the 
price  was  five " ;  for  Chub  had  waxed  confidential 
with  his  mother  as  they  had  approached,  her  opposi 
tion  withdrawn. 

Chubby's  earnest,  eager  countenance  scarcely 
showed  above  a  pile  of  cigar  boxes  on  the  counter 
over  which  he  peered.  He  was  genuinely  surprised, 
yet  not  willing  to  seek  to  take  advantage  of  any 
mistake  that  he  might  have  made. 

"  I  understood  you  to  say  that  you  would  sell  the 
wheel  for  five  dollars " ;  he  addressed  the  boatman 
directly,  with  a  sober  but  unflinching  gaze. 

The  trader's  broad  face  did  not  change,  but  there 
was  a  furtive  gleam  in  his  quick,  sharply  glancing, 
rodent-like  eye,  which  sought  to  measure  Chub's  sim 
plicity.  "  No,  sport,  I  said  ten,"  he  declared,  with  a 
smile  showing  teeth  singularly  sharp  and  closely  set 
together  in  his  wide  mouth,  appearing  as  if  he  had 
more  than  the  ordinary  complement. 

Another  man  in  the  background,  big  and  raw- 
boned,  but  young,  leaning  against  the  door  of  a 
cubby-hole  at  the  rear,  which  from  some  obstruction, 
apparently  hastily  thrust  within,  would  not  shut  fast, 
seemed  to  bear  witness  to  this  statement.  He  grimaced 
affirmatively  at  Chub  with  the  familiarity  of  previous 
acquaintance.  He  had  a  large  face,  which  seemed 
somehow  out  of  drawing,  as  if  swollen  here  and  there, 
and  with  uninflamed  red  spots.  One  eye  and  one  eye 
brow  were  higher  than  the  other,  and  he  had  a  half 
witted  or  mentally  weak  appearance,  suddenly  con 
firmed  when  he  abruptly  licked  out  a  large  red  tongue 

100 


THE  FAIR  MISSIS&IPPIAN 

in  grotesque  triumph  in  the  conclusion  of  the  dicker, 
as  Chub  responded:  — 

"Well,  ten  dollars  is  cheap  anyhow,  —  dirt  cheap, 
—  dog  cheap.  We  will  buy  it  at  ten,  won't  we, 
mamma  ?  " 

The  proprietor  had  taken  Desmond's  measure  the 
instant  he  entered  the  cabin.  Silently  gazing  at  one 
another  across  the  counter,  both  knew  as  well  as  if 
the  fact  had  been  put  into  words  that  the  price  had 
been  doubled  to  meet  his  scrutiny.  It  would  have 
been  still  further  advanced  had  the  trader  better 
understood  the  quality  of  the  wheel. 

"  Why,  ten  is  very  cheap,"   Mrs.  Faurie  began. 

"  We  cannot  buy  it  at  ten,"  Desmond  interrupted 
swiftly,  —  "in  fact,  not  at  any  price." 

Mrs.  Faurie  turned  toward  him  in  angry  surprise, 
her  eyes  blazing.  He  met  them  without  flinching. 
"  You  must  take  my  word  for  it ! "  he  said  sternly. 
"Chubby  shall  not  have  it!  It  is  useless  to  discuss 
prices." 

Desmond  had  laid  his  hand  on  Mrs.  Faurie's  arm 
and  was  about  to  lead  her  forth,  when  the  flatboat- 
man  in  sudden  fury  flung  the  machine  down  behind 
the  counter  with  a  great  clatter  of  the  spokes  and 
pedals. 

"No,  no!"  he  vociferated  to  Chubby,  the  insur 
gent,  who  was  hopefully  emptying  his  pockets  and 
counting  his  cash;  "  you  can't  buy  it  at  any  price. 
Clear  out!  —  the  whole  bunch  of  ye.  I'm  about  to 
cast  off.  I  '11  souse  any  stowaways  in  your  old  Missis- 
r'ppi  bilge-water.  I  '11  cut  the  rope  and  see  how  ye  '11 

101 


THE  PAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

get  ashore  then !  I  '11  land  you  all  in  the  Gulf  of  Mex 
ico  ! "  As  he  voiced  his  frenzied,  disconnected,  inco 
herent  threats  he  suddenly  ran  past  the  group,  sprang 
from  the  deck,  and  with  deer-like  swiftness  sped  up 
the  bank,  his  open  knife  in  his  hand. 

Within  the  cabin  Mrs.  Faurie  started  back  in  dis 
may  as  the  half-witted  creature  left  the  door  he  had 
held  closed,  now  showing  within  the  cubby  a  glimpse 
of  coarse  bagging,  intimating  a  surreptitious  cotton 
bale,  the  corner  of  which  had  prevented  the  slipping 
of  the  bolt.  He  jumped  up  and  down  before  the 
group  with  a  cr.pering  step  and  a  wild  and  foolish 
eye,  now  to  the  right  as  they  pushed  toward  the  door, 
and  as  they  turned  aside,  now  to  the  left,  evidently 
with  the  intention  of  preventing  or  delaying  their 
exit.  Even  the  woman  pushed  a  chair  in  front  of  Mrs. 
Faurie  so  suddenly  that  her  knees  struck  painfully 
against  it.  "  Take  a  seat,  lady,"  she  said  mockingly. 
"  Oh,  do  take  a  seat ! " 

Desmond  scarcely  could  credit  his  senses.  It  was 
like  a  disordered  scene  of  a  dream.  His  logical  facul 
ties  grasped  but  the  one  idea  of  flight.  "  Make  haste," 
he  cried  out  to  Mrs.  Faurie.  "  Get  off  the  boat  even 
if  you  jump  into  the  water."  For  he  felt  that  the 
craft  was  already  loosed  and  moving  from  the  bank. 

"  For  God's  sake,  hurry  !  "  he  adjured  her. 

Then  as  the  great  gawk  of  an  idiot  sprang  again 
in  front  of  them,  Desmond  seized  him,  with  an  effort 
to  sway  him  back  and  forth  and  fling  him  from  his 
feet ;  but  the  river  man  was  as  strong  and  heavier, 
with  a  stolidity  and  lack  of  expectancy  that  seemed 

102 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

to  add  sensibly  to  his  weight  and  immovableness; 
and  when  he  was  finally  thrown,  it  was  after  a  series 
of  struggles  that  carried  them  locked  and  swaying 
together  around  the  room,  both  coming  down  at  last 
with  a  tremendous  crash,  bringing  with  them  not 
only  the  stove-pipe  but  the  monkey  stove  itself.  This 
spewed  forth  a  cataract  of  live  coals  over  the  floor, 
and  as  the  clouds  of  soot  and  smoke  circled  about 
the  rafters,  obscuring  still  further  the  dingy  quarters, 
the  woman  exclaimed  loudly  and  resentfully  her  fears 
of  fire  in  notes  of  woe  and  injury,  and  left  off  such 
schemes  of  hindrance  as  she  had  furthered  to  run  for  a 
bucket  of  water  from  the  shelf.  A  coal  had  touched 
the  gigantic  idiot,  and  he  was  bleating  like  some 
great  calf  in  a  wide  open-mouthed  blare  of  sound  till 
admonished  by  her  to  lend  his  aid  in  extinguishing 
the  fire. 

In  the  midst  of  the  confusion  Desmond  seized  Chub, 
and  though  doubting  if  he  could  compass  the  space  as 
the  current  swung  the  boat  ever  farther  and  farther 
from  the  bank,  he  leaped  ashore.  The  flatboat-man 
was  at  the  moment  running  down  the  bank  for  the 
purpose  of  reembarking.  Despite  the  limit  on  his 
time  which  the  receding  craft  imposed,  he  suddenly 
swerved  from  his  intention,  and  made  a  swift  lunge 
at  Desmond,  intending  to  stab  him  in  the  back.  The 
attack  was  not  altogether  unexpected.  Desmond,  on 
the  alert,  sprang  lightly  aside,  and,  being  unarmed, 
struck  the  boatman  with  his  clenched  fist,  the  blow 
landing  between  the  eyes. 

It  was  a  short,  sharp  fracas  and  an  easy  victory. 

103 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

Desmond  was  a  trained  boxer,  and  here  he  had  light 
and  air  and  elbow-room,  which  he  had  lacked  in  the 
wrestle  within  the  cabin.  There  was  not  a  word  spoken 
between  the  two ;  but  after  the  boatman  had  dragged 
himself  out  of  the  water  where  he  was  tossed,  to  his 
jeopardy  of  drowning  in  the  suction,  and  regained 
the  deck,  Desmond,  breathless  and  agitated,  took  his 
way  up  the  bank  to  rejoin  Mrs.  Faurie,  muttering  to 
himself,  and  now  and  again  pausing  to  look  back  over 
his  shoulder  at  the  progress  of  the  boat. 

"  He  ought  to  be  apprehended.  If  Kentopp  had 
a  pistol  and  had  been  nearer,  we  might  together  have 
held  them  both.  Perhaps  the  miscreant  might  be 
stopped  by  a  shot  if  we  can  get  a  rifle  at  Great  Oaks 
mansion  ;  but  no,  —  he'll  be  too  far  down  the  river 
by  that  time.  The  boat  is  crossing  in  the  current ; 
he  is  goinsf  to  try  to  get  screened  behind  the  tow- 
head,  ami  then  the  boat  will  hug  the  Arkansas  shore, 
and  it  will  be  too  dark  and  far  to  risk  a  shot  Is  there 
no  chance  to  overhaul  him  ?  Is  there  no  telegraph 
station  nearer  than  Fairglade,  Mrs.  Faurie?" 

But  Mrs.  Faurie,  pale  and  bewildered,  did  not  reply 
directly.  "  Why,  Mr.  Desmond,  that  man  tried  to 
abduct  us  all !  What  could  have  been  his  object?  " 

"  Nefarious  enough,  no  doubt ;  but  I  don't  under 
stand  it  at  all."  Desmond's  eyes  had  now  a  more 
definite  expression  of  heed,  yet  she  was  aware  that 
she  only  shared  his  attention. 

"  And  upon  my  word,  Mr.  Desmond,  I  don't  under 
stand  your  high-handed  interference,"  she  exclaimed. 
"What  was  the  matter  with  the  bicycle?  It  seemed 

104 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

a  very  good  wheel.  It  was  your  refusal  to  allow  us  to 
buy  it  that  made  all  the  difficulty." 

"The  wheel  was  too  good/'  said  Desmond,  —  "too 
good  entirely  for  the  price.  It  was  perfectly  new  and 
obviously  stolen.  It  was  worth  fifty  dollars  at  least, 
and  was  offered  at  five.  Chubby  is  no  fool  to  mistake 
a  price.  The  trader  doubled  the  price  when  he  saw 
me.  But  the  rise  was  not  enough." 

"  Oh,  how  fortunate  that  you  were  with  us !  I  know 
nothing  of  the  value  of  these  things.  No,  Chubby, 
you  must  never  buy  from  a  doubtful  source  an  arti 
cle  far  below  its  value ;  it  implies  that  you  profit  by 
a  fraud  that  you  understand."  Then  looking  over 
her  shoulder,  "  How  distant  they  are  down  the  river. 
Mr.  Desmond,  look  how  fast  the  current  is  run 
ning.  Do  you  suppose  they  were  afraid  that  we  would 
report  the  suspicious  bargain  bicycle  ?  " 

There  was  something  evidently  more  than  this. 
No  mere  effort  to  avoid  the  imputation  of  receiving 
stolen  goods  would  justify  such  violence,  Desmond 
was  reflecting.  The  Great  Oaks  party  were  to  be 
drowned,  as  if  by  accident,  before  the  eyes  of  their 
friends ;  or  they  were  to  be  carried  off  by  a  similar 
unlucky  chance  apparently,  and  among  some  track 
less  network  of  sloughs  and  bayous  and  lakes  of  the 
swamp  country,  of  which  such  craft  is  the  only  voy 
ager,  the  rickety  flatboat  would  be  sunk,  with  all  on 
board  save  only  the  murderous  crew,  surviving  not 
to  tell  the  tale,  and  disappearing  without  a  trace,  — 
or  was  the  whole  demonstration  the  expression  only 
of  the  wild,  ungovernable  rage  of  the  miscreant,  that 

105 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

such  a  clue  to  some  terrible  and  heinous  crime  had 
been  thus  fortuitously  discovered? 

Desmond  could  not  judge,  and  he  looked  with  a 
sense  of  baffled  mystery  at  the  craft  as  it  swung 
along  in  midstream,  smoke  issuing  not  only  from  the 
stove-pipe,  evidently  once  more  in  place,  but  from 
the  windows  and  door  as  well.  There  was  in  this 
obviously  no  menace,  for  the  proprietor  was  seated 
upon  the  deck  at  large  leisure,  manipulating  an  old 
violin  in  a  style  of  very  jaunty  bravado.  The  strains 
floated  far  on  the  transmitting  medium  of  the  water, 

o 

and  the  tune  was  easily  distinguishable  as  again  and 
again  the  catgui;  reiterated  "  A  hot  time,  —  a  hot 
time  in  the  old  town  to-nigai."  Desmond  was  of 
the  opinion  that  the  incident  should  be  forthwith 
reported  to  the  authorities.  But  Mr.  Stanlett,  hear 
ing  the  details  with  some  concern,  demurred  to  the 
proposition. 

"  You  cannot  be  certain  that  the  bicycle  was  stolen, 
—  at  any  rate,  by  that  particular  flatboat-man.  He 
may  have  bought  it  among  a  lot  of  stolen  stuff,  to  be 
sure,  but  offered  it  for  sale  again,  not  knowing  its 
value  or  suspecting  its  history,  —  a  bona-fide  pur 
chaser  himself." 

Desmond  listened  in  surprise,  for  Mr.  Stanlett  had 
not  impressed  him  as  of  a  particularly  charitable 
nature  nor  lenient  in  his  judgments. 

They  were  sitting  around  the  hearth  in  the  front 
parlor  after  dinner ;  the  fire  was  blazing  in  cheery 
wise,  more  in  accord  with  the  chill  of  the  night  and 
the  record  of  the  calendar  than  the  springlike  atmos- 

106 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

phere  of  the  day  just  closing  in.  The  Kentopps  were 
staying  overnight,  and  the  topic  had  been  for  some 
time  up  for  discussion,  after  the  manner  of  those 
whose  lives  are  leisurely  affairs  and  of  little  distrac 
tion.  It  had  come  in  with  the  cigars,  for  the  gentle 
men  had  been  sociably  permitted  to  bring  them  into 
this  sanctum  after  the  service  of  the  coffee. 

"  We  want  to  hear  you  talk/'  said  Mrs.  Kentopp, 
with  a  pretty  moue. 

"  Yes,  indeed/'  cried  Mrs.  Faurie;  "a  man  never  has 
an  idea  in  his  head  unless  he  has  a  cigar  in  his  mouth. 
There  is  some  obscure  psychological  connection  be 
tween  facility  of  cerebration  and  blowing  rings,  and 
some  day  when  I  am  not  too  busy,  I  '11  think  it  out." 

"As  to  the  boatman's  casting  off  in  that  hasty  way/' 
said  Mr.  Stanlett,  pursuing  the  subject,  "that  is  not 
an  infrequent  trick  with  better  craft.  Why,  in  my 
time  I  have  been  inadvertently  left  at  a  wayside  land 
ing  ten  miles  from  a  habitation,  —  no  joke  in  this 
country  way  back  in  the  fifties, — and  I  have  been 
carried  off  halfway  to  Vicksburg  before  I  knew  that 
the  boiler  had  steam  up.  It  is  a  pity  that  you  floored 
the  men.  You  overrated  the  provocation.  Rough  river 
rats  can't  be  expected  to  show  drawing-room  man 
ners.  That  is  one  disadvantage  of  college  athletics, 
—  it  makes  a  gentleman  as  handy  with  his  fists  as  a 
professional  bruiser." 

When  Mrs.  Faurie  interposed  to  protest  her  fright 
and  danger,  the  temper  of  the  party  who  did  not  par 
ticipate  in  the  turmoil  within  the  cabin  made  it  seem 
as  if  she  were  ambitious  of  the  pose  of  heroine. 

107 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

"  Why,  my  dear,"  Mr.  Stanlett  reasoned  with  her, 
"you  said  yourself  that  the  man  who  danced  about 
and  sought,  as  you  supposed,  to  detain  your  party 
was  a  poor  simpleton,  a  weak-minded  creature;  he 
doubtless  meant  no  offense,  though  perhaps  they  were 
all  nettled  at  Mr.  Desmond's  refusal  to  buy  the  bicy 
cle  when  he  had  heard  it  priced." 

"  I  should  have  asked  no  questions  about  the  bicy 
cle,  and  therefore  should  have  been  told  no  lies,"  said 
Mrs.  Kentopp,  with  airy  recklessness.  "  I  should  have 
taken  the  bicycle  at  the  very  cheap  asking  price,  and 
in  my  innocent  ignorance  suffered  no  qualms  of  con 
science.  A  little  learning  of  the  law  is  a  dangerous 
thing." 

"  Quite  right,  quite  right,  madam,"  commented  Mr. 
Stanlett.  "Really,  I  feel  that  we  have  no  obligations 
in  the  premises,  and  our  riparian  situation  here,  so 
isolated,  renders  it  peculiarly  necessary  for  us  to  be 
on  our  guard  against  collision  with  the  rougher  river 
element." 

Colonel  Kentopp  waved  away  the  smoke  that  had 
thickened  about  his  massive  head.  "  Very  true,  very 
true ! "  he  said,  with  a  definiteness  of  assent  welcome 
indeed  to  the  old  gentleman,  who  had  spoken  with 
some  hesitation,  for  no  man  likes  to  express  a  fear 
that  others  may  decline  to  entertain.  Relieved  of  the 
imputation  of  timorousness,  Mr.  Stanlett  went  on 
with  decision:  — 

"  These  water-rats,  many  of  them  really  river  pi 
rates,  enjoy  such  immunity  that  I  wonder  that  they 
are  not  more  daring  and  enterprising  than  they  are.  I 

108 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

should  not  like  to  provoke  personal  animosity  and 
possible  reprisal  for  injuries,  real  or  fancied,  among 
them." 

"That  is  just  how  our  house  at  Dryad-Dene  is  so 
much  more  safely  situated  than  you  are  here  at  Great 
Oaks.  Why,"  —  Colonel  Kentopp  leaned  forward 
with  dilated  eyes  and  lowered  voice,  — "  a  handful 
of  marauders  could  loot  Great  Oaks  mansion  any 
foggy  night ;  and  once  an  oar's  length  or  two  off  the 
landing,  they  would  be  as  completely  lost  in  the  mist 
and  their  pursuit  as  impracticable  as  if  they  were  in 
the  desert  of  Sahara." 

Mr.  Stanlett  looked  uncomfortable. 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  declared  Mrs.  Kentopp,  dimpling, 
"a  bit  inland, — as  Great  Oaks  mansion  used  to  be 
in  the  old  time,  before  the  bank  caved  in  and  the 
river  carried  off  the  whole  point,  —  and  this  place 
would  be  Paradise  !  I  sometimes  wish  that  the  river 
would  make  another  grab  at  it  and  take  it  off  —  off 
—  away  down  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  !  " 

"  Thank  you  for  your  very  queer  wishes,"  began 
Mrs.  Faurie. 

"Only  that  you  might  move  inland  and  rebuild 
near  us,  —  we  are  so  far  apart  as  it  is,"  said  Mrs. 
Kentopp,  with  her  head  askew  and  her  sweetest  smile. 

"  Never  because  of  river  pirates.  What  are  our 
peace  officers  for,  if  we  are  not  to  take  our  ease 
under  our  own  vine  and  fig  tree?"  retorted  Mrs. 
Faurie. 

"  Ah,  but  evil  is  inherently  stronger  than  good. 
Hence  the  difficulty  in  the  administration  of  the  law 

109 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

and  the  conservation  of  the  peace,"  said  Colonel  Ken 
topp,  magisterially.  "  Otherwise,  of  course,  the  cause 
of  right  and  justice  would  have  a  clear  walk-over. 
It  is  unfortunately  far  easier  to  conceal  a  crime  than 
to  detect  it,  —  though  skill  and  practice  and  per 
sistence  in  ferreting  out  misdeeds  go  a  long  way  and 
ultimately  triumph  in  most  instances,  no  doubt.  But 
then,  think  of  that  affair  last  fall  at  Whippoorwill 
Landing,  — nefarious  business,  —  the  malefactors  still 
at  large !  Two  men  killed  inside  a  good  trig  house, 

—  big,  healthy,  hearty  fellows.    I  knew  Patton  well, 

—  used  to  keep  a  store  in  Arkansas ;  —  and  not  a 
sign  nor  a  clue  yet  as  to  how  or  why,  —  both  wiped 
off  the  face  of  the  earth,  —  touched  off  as  lightly  as 
the  ash  of  this  cigar,"  suiting  the  action  to  the  word, 
then  shaking  his  head  solemnly. 

"  Oh,  oh  !  raw  head  and  bloody  bones  !  Not  another 
word  !  You  will  give  the  whole  house  awful  dreams," 
cried  Mrs.  Kentopp.  "  Come,  Mr.  Stanlett,  let  us  show 
this  worshipful  company  what  bridge  whist  really  is." 

She  rose  with  a  great  rustle  of  silk  skirts  and 
whisked  away  to  the  centre  table,  where  she  opened 
a  drawer  with  an  affectation  of  busy  and  sly  peering, 
and  thence  produced  a  pack  of  cards.  Desmond  could 
not  understand  why  Colonel  Kentopp  should  look  so 
disconcerted  and  annoyed.  He  had  an  air  of  positive 
concern  as  he  said  with  pointed  emphasis,  "  Choose 
some  other  game,  Annetta,  that  perhaps  we  play 
better,"  —  with  a  heavy  attempt  at  mirth.  "We  are 
too  many  for  bridge.  /  would  sit  out  willingly,  but 
I  know  that  Mrs.  Faurie  will  not  permit  me  in  my 

110 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

quality  as  guest,  —  distinguished  stranger  !  —  and 
Mr.  Desmond  being  '  home-folks '  here." 

"  Bridge  mote  it  be,"  Desmond  responded  lightly, 
perceiving  that  Mrs.  Kentopp,  usurping  the  initiative 
of  her  hostess,  had  arranged  the  party  expressly  for 
his  exclusion  as  if  he  were  of  no  consideration,  and 
caring  little  or  naught  what  the  tutor  might  think  or 
feel ;  and  to  his  surprise,  Desmond  cared  naught  for 
her  demonstration.  "  I  have  letters  to  write,  —  I  hear 
the  packet  passes  near  daylight  to-morrow.  I  was 
just  about  to  ask  to  be  excused." 

The  straight,  level  brows  above  Mrs.  Faurie's  fine 
eyes  were  drawn  into  something  like  a  frown.  It  was 
inconsistent  with  her  high-bred  sense  of  courtesy  that 
this  exclusion  should  have  been  suggested.  She  would 
not  willingly  have  ignored  the  gentleman,  poor  and 
proud,  whose  dignity  should  have  been  the  more  jeal 
ously  regarded  because  of  its  jeopardy  in  his  subsid 
iary  position.  As  Desmond,  on  his  way  to  the  library, 
passed  on  the  veranda  without,  he  glanced  through 
the  window  at  the  group,  now  settled  at  the  table, 
a  cheery  scene,  with  the  glow  of  the  old-fashioned 
crimson  curtains  and  velvet  carpet,  the  sheen  of  gilt- 
framed  mirrors,  the  elusive  flicker  of  the  fire,  the 
rich  dresses  of  the  two  women.  He  could  but  note 
that  the  frown  was  not  altogether  effaced  from  those 
level  brows,  somewhat  formidable  of  expression  in 
their  rapprochement,  and  he  discerned  that  Mrs. 
Kentopp  had  found  it  necessary  to  be  even  more  reso 
lutely  alluring  in  her  sparkle  and  flushing  laughter 
and  insistent  gayety  than  her  wont. 


CHAPTER  VI 

UESMOND'S  conviction  that  the  matter  of  the  bicycle 
was  eminently  fit  for  report  to  the  authorities  was 
shared  by  the  party  who  was  most  intimately  con 
cerned,  the  flatboat-man  himself.  The  jovial  pose 
which  Jedidiah  Knoxton  conserved  that  afternoon 
while  he  sat  on  a  coil  of  rope  on  the  deck  and  sawed 
on  the  fiddle,  as  the  friendly  current  carried  him 
farther  and  farther  toward  the  centre  of  the  stream, 
had  no  relation  to  the  attitude  of  his  mind.  It  was 
dismayed,  intimidated,  as  he  now  reflected  upon  the 
episode  and  its  possible  consequences.  He  did  not 
welcome  the  realization  that  his  thought  was  shared  by 
his  wife,  as  he  noted  that  she  was  standing  with  the 
child  in  her  arms,  staring  with  a  sort  of  dull,  appre 
hensive,  quelled  contemplation  at  the  receding  scene, 
for  it  seemed  to  move  instead  of  the  craft,  —  the 
bight  of  the  great  river  bend,  where  the  roiled  water 
gave  token  of  the  path  of  the  boat ;  the  strip  of  level 
territory  outside  the  levee;  the  immense,  green,  ser 
pentine  embankment  where  the  group  of  "  quality 
folks  "  stood  dwindling  till  they  seemed  but  a  bunch 
of  bright-hued  fabric ;  the  heavy,  tangled  growths  of 
a  stretch  of  swamp  country  to  the  north,  and  to  the 
south,  with  no  apparent  limits  to  their  extent,  the 
seigneurial  groves  of  Great  Oaks. 

And  here  could  be  seen  the  mansion  itself,  with 
its  score  of  red  chimneys,  its  long,  low  white  fagade, 

112 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

each  remove  showing  its  many  appanages,  —  now  a 
wing  and  then,  swinging  into  view,  an  ell,  and  strag 
gling  away  the  kitchen  and  offices,  and  dove-cote,  and 
dairy  and  bell-tower,  and  stables,  and  orchards  and 
vineyards ;  farther  still  was  the  village-like  cluster 
of  buildings  for  hired  hands  and  tenants,  formerly 
the  "quarter"  for  slaves;  and  yet  beyond  appeared 
the  steam-gin,  the  saw-and-grist  mill,  the  potato- 
houses,  the  sheds  for  cows,  and  the  work  animals, 
mules,  and  horses ;  then  thousands  of  acres  of  cot 
ton-fields,  orderly  and  neat  as  a  flower  border,  al 
ready  ploughed  and  bedded  up,  ready  for  the  plant 
ing  of  the  great  staple, — a  principality  indeed,  the 
realm  of  the  rich  and  powerful  and  learned; — and 
was  it  wise  to  excite  the  just  wrath,  and  the  danger 
ous  suspicion,  or  even  to  court  the  notice  of  those 
whose  stake  in  the  country  was  so  large,  whose 
hand  was  so  heavy,  whose  ascendency  was  so  com 
plete  ! 

"  Mighty  fine  folks,  Jedidiah,"  she  said  at  length, 
still  staring  at  the  moving  landscape.  Her  voice 
reached  him  even  amidst  the  discordant  sawings  and 
scrapings  of  the  horsehair  and  catgut.  His  hat  was 
thrust  back;  his  red  forelock  tossed  to  and  fro  as  his 
head  wagged  in  unison  with  his  raucous  perform 
ance.  He  did  not  speak,  and  presently,  still  eyeing 
the  receding  scene,  she  said,  "  Mighty  rich  folks, 
Jedidiah  ! "  Her  voice  was  pitched  high,  and  its  pene 
trating  quality  made  itself  insistent  throughout  the 
hubbub  of  the  "  hot  time  in  the  old  town."  The  dis 
cordant  strain  ceased  suddenly.  The  bow,  still  held 

113 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

after  the  fiddler's  fashion,  was  shaken  at  her  in  em 
phasis  as  he  drawled  malignantly  :  - 

"  Ye-es,  —  an'  if  this  f  alhV  weather  in  the  upper 
country  holds  a  week  longer,  I  can  take  a  cool  thirty 
thousand  dollars  outer  that  sucker's  pocket  with  three 
strokes  of  a  spade ;  an'  by  gum,  I  '11  do  it,  too  !  —  if 
I  gits  a  chanst." 

He  lifted  his  hand  to  the  abrasions  of  his  bruised 
and  swollen  face,  which  he  had  hitherto  disregarded 
with  an  assumption  of  hardihood  as  naught.  The 
last  building  of  the  "  quarter  "  was  disappearing  in 
the  distance,  glistening  with  whitewash,  —  it  was 
said  on  the  river  that  the  manager  at  Great  Oaks 
whitewashed  all  creation  when  he  was  informed  that 
Mrs.  Faurie  was  returning  from  abroad,  even  the 
under  side  of  the  horse-block!  —  but  the  flatboat- 
man's  wife  still  stood  staring,  some  vague  premoni 
tion  of  trouble  in  her  mind.  Jedidiah,  the  frog-like 
suggestions  of  his  face  emphasized  as  he  crouched 
his  body  forward,  his  legs  doubled  up  among  the 
coils  of  rope,  stared,  too,  blinkingly.  The  light  in 
the  sky  was  a  keen  saffron  gleam  now;  it  dazzled  his 
eyes;  he  was  thinking  hard,  eagerly,  fearfully,  mali 
ciously. 

The  next  moment  the  whole  world  seemed  resonant 
and  rocking  with  a  wild,  pervasive  turbulence,  —  a 
steamer  was  rounding  the  point,  and  the  little  helpless, 
drifting  leaf  of  a  boat  lay  directly  in  her  course. 
How  he  should  not  have  heard  the  respiration  of  her 
engines,  like  that  of  an  immense  breathing  creature 
which  she  resembled,  he  never  knew,  or  how  he  had 

114 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

not  felt  the  vibrations  of  the  water  pouring  like  a 
cataract  over  the  great  wheel  at  her  stern,  —  for  for 
midable  as  she  moved  upon  the  currents,  loftily  as 
she  towered  in  her  white,  glistening  presence,  her 
chimneys  seeming  to  vie  with  the  forest  heights  of 
Great  Oaks,  she  was  not  one  of  the  fine  packets  ply 
ing  between  the  cities.  She  was  destined  for  one  of 
the  smaller  tributaries,  and  the  Mississippi  made  only 
a  part  of  her  course.  But  she  looked  to  the  flatboat- 
man  like  the  scourge  of  God.  She  was  materialized 
Fate !  She  was  Terror,  Doom,  and  Death  in  one  to 
the  wretched  man  whom  momently  she  threatened 
to  run  down.  He  could  never  have  described  what  he 
felt  as  now  and  again  she  lifted  anew  her  frightful 
voice  and  spoke  to  him,  —  he  could  only  feel,  —  spoke 
of  warning,  of  smug  and  exact  compliance  with  the 
law,  of  due  notification  of  the  death  that  she  must 
presently  mete  out  to  him.  He  seemed  all  apart  from 
the  straining  wretches  that  toiled,  one  at  the  pole  and 
two  at  the  rowlocks,  as  the  two  men  and  the  woman 
strove  against  the  current  to  bring  the  raft  aside  from 
the  path  of  the  domineering  monster  that  bore  straight 
down  upon  them,  —  for  as  far  as  consciousness  was 
concerned,  he  could  not  have  moved  a  muscle.  It  was 
a  matter  of  instinct  which  controlled  his  labor,  a 
mechanical  effort,  with  which  heart  and  brain  had  no 
part.  He  began  to  tremble  when  he  perceived  that 
the  steamboat  was  slightly  sheering  to  the  left.  Then 
for  the  first  time  he  was  sufficiently  in  command  of 
his  faculties  to  realize  that  the  pilot's  bell  was  contin 
ually  jangling,  that  the  throbs  of  the  engines  were 

115 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

disjointed,  feebler,  that  there  was  a  desperate  effort 
making  to  back,  to  sheer,  to  change  the  course. 

It  was  all  useless,  —  too  late  !  He  saw  as  his  fren 
zied  muscles  still  strove  against  the  impossible  that 
the  guards  were  filled  with  people,  passengers,  calling 
out  undistinguished  words  of  commiseration,  of  en 
couragement  ;  the  roustabouts  stood  on  the  lower 
deck,  scarcely  higher  out  of  the  river  than  himself  in 
his  humble  craft  level  with  the  surface,  and  roared 
out  advice. 

Suddenly  with  a  wild  scream  the  woman  despaired. 
She  rose,  dropping  her  oar,  and  held  up  the  child  at 
arm's  length,  with  a  gesture  of  appeal,  toward  the 
captain,  who  was  standing  on  the  hurricane  deck.  He 
waved  his  hand  in  encouraging  response,  and  then 
the  sheer  was  sufficient  for  Jedidiah  to  see  that  the 
yawl  was  unslung  and  sliding  from  the  davits,  and 
that  the  Flora  P.  Mayberry  proposed  to  have  the 
credit  of  humanely  picking  up  their  carcasses,  after 
she  had  sent  to  the  bottom  their  floating  home  and 
all  their  pitiful  store  of  goods  and  chattels. 

For  this  was  the  aspect  the  episode  took  to  his 
mind  when,  almost  within  the  suction  of  the  steamer, 
the  flatboat  struck  a  swift  swirl  of  current,  made, 
heaven  only  knows  how.  Some  obstruction  on  the 
bottom  may  have  caused  it,  —  the  smokestack  of 
an  old  sunken  boat,  long  since  forgotten ;  a  tree 
of  former  swamp  growths,  too  deeply  whelmed  to  be 
known  to  snag-boats  or  river  charts,  barely  sufficient 
to  turn  a  ripple.  With  the  vast  strength  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  River  currents  the  deflecting  ripple  swung 

116 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

the  flatboat  around  like  a  leaf  in  an  eddy,  and,  as 
safe  as  if  he  had  miles  of  sea-room,  Jedidiah  Knoxton 
stood  on  his  raft,  with  his  face  corrugated  and  lined 
with  rage,  and  his  mouth  stretched  wide  and  dis 
torted,  and  shook  his  fist  at  the  towering  steamer, 
and  called  out  frenzied  curses  upon  the  craft  and  her 
captain,  and  passengers,  and  crew,  and  consigned 
them  all  to  hell,  a  deep  and  fiery  hole  in  his  version. 
Meantime  the  passengers,  their  sympathy  reacting, 
laughed  and  sneered ;  the  deck-hands  yelled  out  gibes 
of  derision  and  responsive  defiance;  the  captain 
shrugged  his  shoulders  in  silent  contempt  and  or 
dered  the  yawl  once  more  to  its  place. 

The  woman,  her  arms  akimbo,  the  baby,  wailing 
unheeded  now  on  the  dancing,  teetering  floor,  looked 
bitterly  after  the  greater  craft  as  she  passed,  the  water 
playing  in  cascades  of  white  foam  over  the  wheel  at 
her  stern,  her  moving  chimneys  seeming  to  describe 
scrolls  of  mystic  import  among  the  clouds,  punctu 
ated  here  and  there  by  the  faint  spark  of  a  star. 

"  It  is  allus  the  way,  Jedidiah,"  she  said.  She  could 
scarcely  get  her  breath  as  yet,  and  her  voice  had  a 
catch  like  a  sob.  "  It  is  allus  the  way  !  The  big  folks 
is  safe,  an'  high,  an'  dry,  while  us  pore  folks  take 
water,  an'  skim  the  edge  of  hell." 

His  pride,  if  he  might  have  claimed  such  an  en 
dowment,  his  self-sufficiency,  had  been  grievously  cut 
down  by  the  incident ;  but  since  it  had  not  culminated 
in  death  or  disaster,  it  had  seemed  to  resolve  itself  into 
a  flout,  an  injury,  a  wanton  insult.  This  view  was 
confirmed  in  an  illogical  sort  by  the  evident  revulsion 

117 


THE   FAIR   M  i  ss  ISSIPPIAN 

of  the  sentiment  of  the  passengers  and  crew,  their 
sympathy  naturally  enough  checked,  however,  by 
his  rage  and  futile  venom  as  he  volleyed  his  curses 
at  them. 

u  Not  allus  so  safe  an'  sound,"  he  protested,  "  the 
rich  folks  ain't.  Them  galoots  up  there  at  Whippoor- 
will  Landing  did  n't  skini  the  edge  of  hell,  —  that 's 
true  ;  they  went  teetotally  in,  —  kerplunk  !  " 

The  woman  had  been  wringing  out  her  hair  and 
shaking  out  her  skirts,  all  damp  with  the  spray  of 
the  stern  wheel  of  the  steamer  and  the  churning  wake 
of  her  passage  in  which  the  raft  yet  rocked.  An 
awed  stillness  though  fearful  delight  came  over  her 
face  at  his  words,  and  she  softly  drew  near,  and  sat 
down  on  a  coil  of  the  ropes  with  the  baby  in  her  arms. 
The  child  had  ceased  to  cry  aloud  bewailing  his 
desertion,  but  as  if  silence  were  too  great  a  boon  to 
accord,  he  kept  up  a  sort  of  absent-minded  whimper 
ing  or  crooning,  reciting  in  some  sort  a  theme  of 
woe,  learned  by  rote,  the  significance  of  which  had 
been  forgotten  or  was  uncomprehended. 

"  Yes,  sir ! "  Jed  Knoxton  exclaimed  with  hearty 
satisfaction,  "  they  got  the  butt  end  of  the  club,  sure  ! 
Providence  was  right  after  them  at  a  two-forty  clip !  " 
He  sneered  as  he  laughed.  "  I  tell  you  the  way  it  was 
meted  out  to  them,  you  might  have  thought  they  was 
pore  folks,  fur  sure." 

"  I  never  could  make  out  how  't  was  they  never  sus- 
picioned  nothing,  —  how  it  was  so  easy  done,"  she 
speculated. 

There  was  not  a  soul  within  a  mile  of  the  boat,  yet 

118 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

he  glanced  fearfully  over  his  'shoulder  before  he  an 
swered.  His  brother,  the  idiot,  had  gone  back  into 
the  cabin,  and  now  and  again  a  long-drawn  snore  and 
at  times  a  sputtering  gasp  told  that  he  had  sought  his 
bunk  for  the  night.  The  broad  Mississippi  stretched 
silent  and  deep,  vacant  on  either  hand,  so  broad  that 
they  could  only  see  the  line  of  the  hither  shore  a  mile 
away  as  they  drifted  along  on  the  swift  current. 
There  was  no  other  craft  in  view ;  no  motion  save  the 
long,  elastic  undulations  of  the  waves,  here  and  there 
crisping  into  ripples  when  a  flaw  of  the  chill  night 
breeze  struck  the  water.  Sometimes  they  were  tipped 
with  a  shifting  scintillation,  the  reflection  of  a  star, 
and  again  only  a  sense  of  a  dark,  transparent  lustre 
betokened  the  depths.  A  world,  it  was,  and  all  to 
themselves;  yet  he  looked  over  his  shoulder,  fear 
fully. 

"  They  got  into  the  store  by  purtendin'  to  be  cus 
tomers, —  that 's  how." 

"  But  stores  don't  keep  open  past  midnight,"  she 
remonstrated. 

He  ducked  his  red  head  and  chuckled  into  the 
bosom  of  his  checked  hickory  shirt.  It  seemed  so 
funny,  —  so  very  funny!  "Of  course  'twas  outer 
business  hours  ;  but  they  was  ailin'  -  -  oh,  my,  how 
ailin'  they  was !  Becburn  give  out  that  he  had 
ptomaine  pizenin' ;  —  when  they  landed  in  the  skiff, 
an'  came  up  the  bank,  Danvelt  told  me  that  they 
hallooed  the  store  bold  as  brass,  same  as  if  they  was 
in  earnest.  An'  them  two,  the  proprietor  of  the  store 
and  his  clerk,  they  took  it  all  in,  for  gospel  sure. 

119 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

Becburn  had  swallowed  something  mighty  nigh  as 
bad, — a  power  o'  ipecac,  —  and  he  was  jus'  a-vom- 
itin'  an'  retchin'  as  he  come,  —  an'  sure  enough 
them  suckers  opened  the  door,  to  give  him  something 
to  ease  him  off  ! "  He  paused  again  to  laugh  silently, 
holding  his  head  down.  "  That  light-haired,  slim  fel 
low,  Oscar  Patton,  the  clerk,  he  said  that  common 
kitchen  sody  was  the  antidote ;  an'  all  bar'foot  as  he 
was,  he  run  into  the  back  room  to  git  a  box,  —  they 
dealt  with  him  there." 

The  child  still  crooned  its  plaint,  though  forget 
ting  its  sorrow ;  the  woman's  face  was  illumined  by 
the  light  of  the  moon,  only  a  mere  segment  of  pearl, 
but  all  else  was  so  dark,  —  the  silent  river  running 
like  the  stream  of  Time,  the  glooms  of  the  forest 
crowning  the  nearer  banks  towering  dimly  into  the 
night,  the  opposite  shore  lost  in  distance, — that  its 
lineaments  were  easily  discerned  by  one  familiar  with 
them.  Even  one  not  accustomed  might  have  noted 
the  peculiar  slant  of  the  eyes,  the  snake-like  contour 
of  the  countenance,  the  long,  serpentine  curve  of  the 
throat,  —  she  seemed  not  out  of  place  clinging  to  the 
slimy  timbers  of  a  raft  in  the  midst  of  the  murky 
Mississippi.  She  listened  in  cold-blooded  interest  to 
this  tale  of  a  deed  of  dread,  but  now  and  again  she 
shuddered. 

"  The  t'other  fellow,  Ackworth,  was  harder  to  kill, 
they  say.  He  got  his  chanst  and  fit.  He  got  on  to  the 
game,  whenst  he  heard  Patton  yell  out  '  Oh,  my 
God  ! '  an'  drap  to  the  floor.  Ackworth  made  a  break 
for  the  drawer  of  the  counter  then,  —  he  had  just 

120 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

been  pourin'  out  a  glass  of  whiskey  for  the  sufferer 
from  ptomaine ;  Becburn  declares  now  he  ain't  re 
sponsible  for  nothin'  'bout  it  all,  for  he  done  nothin' 
but  turn  himself  wrong  side  out  with  that  ipecac !  — 
an'  when  Ackworth  laid  holt  of  the  knob  of  the 
drawer,  they  knowed  there  was  a  pistol  in  it,  an'  they 
jumped  on  him.  Ben  Danvelt  jes'  held  him  by  the 
nape  o'  the  neck,  an'  though  he  got  the  drawer  open, 
they  pushed  him  down  an'  shut  his  head  up  in  it. 
He  could  n't  git  a  purchase  on  himself  to  pull  his 
head  outer  it.  Tom  Turfin  stabbed  him  twicet,  while 
the  t' others  held  him  thar  with  his  head  in  the 
drawer,  —  stabbed  him  twicet  in  the  back  just  under 
the  shoulder-blade.  He  was  n't  dead,  though,  when 
they  let  the  drawer  loost  an'  he  drapped,  —  he  died 
hard.  Tom  say  that  he  wriggled  an'  writhed  on  the 
floor  like  a  wum.  He  only  spoke  once;  he  lifted  up 
his  voice  an'  he  says,  says  he,  '  My  blood  shall  be  a 
testimony  against  you.'  An'  his  mouth  was  full  of 
it,  then.  But  Ben  Danvelt  he  spoke  up, '  Incompetent 
testimony  in  this  court.'  He 's  a  funny  feller,  full 
of  his  jokes!  Then  he  let  Ackworth  have  the  knife 
agin,  — right  in  the  throat,  this  time.  An'  they  got 
no  more  o'  his  jaw  then.  A  slick  job,  it  was,  —  done 
right." 

The  progress  was  swift  down  the  great,  pulsing 
river ;  they  could  see  the  dark  forests  upon  the  bank 
all  a-journeying  northward  as  so  elastically,  so  noise 
lessly,  they  swung  along  toward  the  south.  Now  and 
again  the  braided  currents  carried  the  craft  close  in 
shore,  and  they  could  smell  the  dank,  rich  vernal  odor 

121 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

of  the  earth,  the  pungent  tang  of  herb  and  tree; 
once  in  a  deep,  oozy  tangle  where  a  bayou  went  slug 
gishly  forth  into  the  woods,  an  outlet  from  the  Missis 
sippi,  they  heard  a  sudden  resounding  splash  in  the 
water.  The  woman  started  nervously,  and  with  a  sharp 
exclamation  let  her  snuff-brush  drop  from  her  mouth 
into  her  lap. 

"  Shucks,  Jocelinda,"  the  man  sneered,  "  don't  you 
know  a  'gator  takin'  to  water  yit?  " 

The  ripples  of  the  great  saurian's  stir  as  he  swam 
along  the  marge  were  perceptible  now  in  the  moon 
light  as  the  boat  shot  past,  down  and  down  the 
stream,  and  they  seemed  far  away  and  faint  the  sound 
when  they  heard  the  alligator's  resonant  call  to  his 
mate  in  the  lagoon,  and  presently  another  roar  hardly 
more  than  some  dull  blast  of  a  distant  horn,  so  fast 
the  river  swept  them  on. 

"It  ain't  seemin'  no  slick  job  to  me,"  Jocelinda 
commented  at  length, "  else  it  would  never  have  been 
found  out." 

"  Oh,  you  'd  have  done  it  mighty  different, 
wouldn't  you,  now?"  he  sneered.  "  You  are  up  to 
all  sorts  o'  tricks." 

"  I  can  kindle  a  fire  that  won't  go  out,"  Jocelinda 
declared. 

"  But  the  fire  did  n't  go  out ;  't  was  put  out,  — 
that's  whut !  The  light  gin  the  alarm  so  derned  quick. 
That  old  hussy,  the  Swamp  Lily,  came  scootin'  down 
the  river  a  full  day  behind  time ;  an'  headin'  for  the 
landin',  the  pilot  seen  the  store  afire.  He  sounded  the 
whistle  fit  to  wake  the  dead,  —  waked  all  the  swamp 

122 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

country  for  miles  around.  The  old  boat  jes'  sot  there 
on  the  water  a-pipin'  an'  a-blowin'  as  if  she  'd  bust. 
Then  all  the  galoots  round  about  got  inter  their 
breeches  an'  boots  an'  run  to  the  landin',  to  help 
put  it  out.  The  Swamp  Lily  sent  out  all  the  deck 
hands,  an'  the  Mississippi  River  had  a  leetle  water  to 
spare,  —  no  reason  why  they  could  n't  throw  the 
water  on  the  fire  an'  put  it  out.  You  could  n't  kindle 
a  fire  that  the  Mississippi  River  can't  squench,  hey, 
'  smart  Aleck'?" 

"  But  then  the  folks  found  the  bodies  right  there," 
she  objected. 

"  Ye-es,"  he  drawled.  "  They  had  their  own  rea 
sons  for  not  having  walked  off." 

"  An'  so  the  folks  found  the  bodies  fresh  killed,  an' 
seen  that  the  store  had  been  stripped  of  mighty  nigh 
all  the  goods  an'  all  the  money  in  the  cash  drawer." 

"  Ye-es,  the  boys  loaded  up  all  they  could  kerry  on 
the  steam-launch  an'  set  the  shebang  afire.  But  for 
the  accident  of  the  Swamp  Lily  comin'  along  out 
of  turn,  the  whole  caboodle  would  have  been  ashes 
and  cinders  before  the  sun  had  riz.  They  would 
have  thought  the  proprietor  an'  his  clerk  was  burned 
by  accident,  or  in  tryin'  to  save  something,  or  was 
drunk  an'  did  n't  wake.  I  'member  Danvelt  said  he 
thought  that  Ackworth  had  the  name  of  takin'  a 
glass  too  much  once  in  a  while." 

"  'T  was  a  big  fire,"  she  remarked,  as  if  making  a 
concession.  "  It  lighted  up  the  whole  country.  The 
river  shone  like  a  stream  of  flames  in  the  fog,  —  just 
seemed  to  split  the  world  in  two." 

123 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  'Twas  a  big  fire  —  an'  a  slick  job,  too,"  he  pro 
tested.  "They  got  away  with  the  goods  an*  some 
cash,  —  consid'ble  spondulix,  —  an'  nobody  ain't 
'spicioned  'em  yit.  'T  was  way  last  fall,  too." 

"Them  bodies  ought  not  to  have  been  found,"  she 
argued  dolorously.  She  felt  that  it  was  the  one  dis 
paragement  to  the  artistic  achievement. 

He  did  not  reply.  They  were  now  passing  between 
a  small  island  and  the  shore.  The  water,  thus  com 
pressed  in  volume,  ran  with  still  more  turbulent 
rapidity.  He  was  not  sure  how  their  voices  might 
carry  on  the  still  air  and  the  transmitting  medium 
of  the  silent  river.  They  were  too  near  the  land  on 
either  hand  to  risk  such  words  as  might  phrase  the 
thoughts  of  their  dark  hearts.  The  island  was  in  pro 
gress  of  swift  building.  At  no  distant  day  it  would  be 
the  shore.  The  great,  restless  river  —  now  sweeping 
away  hundreds  of  acres,  that  melted  into  nothingness 
in  the  floods;  now  cutting  channels  through  points  of 
land  in  an  inconceivably  short  time,  transmogrify 
ing  them  into  islands  far  from  their  ancient  affilia 
tions  —  was  here  filling  up  with  silt  the  shallows 
and  rifts  and  chasms  into  solid  continuity  with  the 
bank.  This  island  was  what  is  locally  called  "a  tow- 
head,"  a  spit  of  white  sand,  sparsely  covered  with 
brush ;  and  one  might  imagine  so  desolate  a  loneli 
ness  could  shield  no  human  being  who  could  lend 
the  ear  of  comprehension  to  a  chance  word  floating 
over  the  water.  But  Jedidiah  Knoxton  and  his  wife 
Jocelinda  kept  their  dubious  counsels,  till  once  more 
they  swung  along  between  distant  banks  of  the 

124 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

deep  and  lonely  river  below  and  the  unpeopled  skies 
above. 

"  Jed,  war  n't  that  bicycle  one  of  the  Ackworth 
stock  ? "  she  queried,  in  a  mere  whisper. 

"  Ax  me  no  questions  an'  I  '11  tell  you  no  lies,"  he 
retorted  gruffly. 

"  I  allus  believed  them  was  'spensive  things,  — 
heap  mo'  'spensive  than  you  knowed.  I  b'lieve  Dan- 
velt  let  you  have  'em  jus'  to  let  you  git  tracked 
by  'em,"  she  suggested,  "  ter  keep  s'picion  off  'n 
him."  ' 

"  Shet  yer  mouth,  Jocelinda,"  he  vociferated  furi 
ously,  "  else  I  '11  break  it  in." 

"  Why,  you  had  nothin'  to  do  with  thar  trick,"  she 
expostulated.  "  I  ain't  taxin'  you  with  nothink." 

She  was  quiescent  for  a  time,  as  if  knowing  that 
her  silence  would  stimulate  him  to  speech.  The  surest 
way  to  reopen  the  discussion  was  paradoxically  to 
close  it.  The  child  was  sleeping  now,  and  once  and 
again  she  patted  its  back,  as  it  lay  on  her  breast, 
with  a  fragmentary  "  Bye-oh,  Bye-oh." 

"Them  things  ain't  labeled,"  Knoxton  recom 
menced,  as  if  there  had  been  no  cessation  of  the  dis 
cussion.  "  They  are  as  common  as  crayfish.  Folks  are 
wheelin'  all  over  the  country." 

"  Not  at  no  five  dollars,  Jed,  —  nor  yit  ten.  I  tole 
you  that  I  priced  them  jiggermarees  whenst  I  was  in 
Vicksburg,  an'  some  was  as  high  as  fifty  dollars." 

"  An'  I  tole  you  that  the  store  folks  was  stuffin' 
you,"  he  cried,  with  a  sort  of  turbulence  that  was  akin 
both  to  rage  and  woe.  "  A  tacky  body  like  you  to  go 

125 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

pricin'  wheels  an'  such  fixings  !  —  they  was  makin' 
game  of  you." 

"  Mebbe  so,  mebbe  so/'  — she  yielded  a  facile  ac 
quiescence,  apparently  without  sensitive  vanity;  "  but 
I  did  see  this  evening  that  ten  dollars  was  a  power 
too  low.  That  man  would  n't  let  Mrs.  Faurie  risk 
herself  with  it,  —  rich  as  she  is  !  He  knowed  it  war 
new  and  stole." 

"  Well,  damn  Mr.  Faurie,  —  that  is  all  I  have  got 
to  say,"  the  flatboat-man  cried,  his  hand  going  up  to 
his  bruised  face  tingling  with  pain  as  his  rancor  roused 
at  the  recollection  of  the  incident.  Then  tremulous 
with  a  nervous  rage,  that  yet  contended  with  a  cold 
chill  of  fear,  "  But  if  this  wheel  was  to  be  tracked  to 
me,  what  would  ail  me  not  to  split  on  Danvelt  and 
Turfin  and  the  others?" 

"  I  reckon  they  are  too  far  by  this  time  to  be 
caught ;  it  all  happened  last  October,  and  here  it  is 
nigh  the  spring  o'  the  year  agin.  I  reckon  they  think 
that  nobody  would  believe  you.  The  law  would  have 
you  safe  by  the  laig,  an'  the  goods  found  on  your 
boat.  'T  was  only  a  blind  if  anybody  took  after  them." 

There  was  a  long  silence.  The  boat  was  again  ap 
proaching  the  shore  of  its  own  accord,  it  seemed, 
yielded  as  it  was  to  the  whim  of  the  current.  The 
dark  forests  were  coming  down  to  the  verge  of  the 
stream  with  beckoning,  sheltering  suggestions  in 
their  wild,  tangled  glooms.  Her  breath  was  short,  so 
ardently  she  hoped  what  she  dared  not  say.  He  di 
vined  her  hope,  but  with  that  perverse  sense  of  domi 
nation,  so  characteristic  of  the  domestic  tyrant,  he 

126 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

would  say  naught  to  encourage  it.  He  pursued  the 
subject.  "  If  I  believed  that,  I  'd  sink  the  wheels  i» 
the  river  without  more  ado,"  he  declared. 

"  They  are  too  light/'  she  protested.  "  I  dunno 
how  them  cur'ous  injer-rubber  rims  might  make  'em 
float." 

Again  there  were  no  words  between  them  for  a 
time,  while  the  river  clove  through  the  night  as  silent 
as  the  stars  vibrating  above  in  the  sky.  The  moon 
was  sinking  toward  the  western  bank.  A  vague  sense 
of  yearning,  of  wistful  sadness,  pervaded  the  lunar 
light  that  began  to  suffuse  the  summits  of  the  great, 
gloomy,  primeval  forests.  This  glister  seemed  to  re 
spond  to  the  slow  down-dropping  of  the  weary  one 
who  had  finished  her  course  through  the  skies,  —  no 
joyous  welcome  this,  but  replete  with  solemnity,  with 
weird  silence,  with  aloof  suggestions  such  as  might 
typify  the  down-dropping  into  a  grave.  The  wind  had 
grown  more  chill.  Jocelinda  wrapped  closer  a  ragged 
petticoat  of  red  flannel,  which  the  baby  wore  about 
its  shoulders  like  a  mantle.  The  touch  of  the  fabric 
reminded  her  of  the  infant's  wardrobe  which  Mrs. 
Faurie  had  promised  her,  —  not  that  she  cared  for 
such  comforts  and  means  of  tidy  array;  it  would 
have  been  far  too  much  trouble  to  keep  the  child 
clothed  and  tended  in  many  whole  and  clean  gar 
ments.  The  recollection  merely  brought  to  her  mind 
a  collocation  of  ideas  that  had  earlier  occurred  to 
her.  "  I  don't  believe  that  man  was  Mr.  Faurie  ! "  she 
said  suddenly. 

It  was  an  unlucky  topic.  The  very  name  roused 

127 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Knoxton's  rancor.  "What  for  no?"  he  exclaimed, 
in  a  sudden  gust  of  anger.  His  knowledge  that  the 
bicycle  had  been  instantly  recognized  as  stolen  goods ; 
the  possibility  that  his  possession  of  the  machine 
might  connect  his  identity  with  the  miscreants  who 
had  plundered  the  store  at  Whippoorwill  Landing, 
and  murdered  the  proprietor  and  clerk ;  the  fear  that 
this  was  their  nefarious  intention  in  shunting  off  on 
him  these  costly  wares  so  easily  detected,  so  rare 
among  the  humbler  population  among  whom  his 
trade  lay,  so  incongruous  with  his  stock  of  goods 
and  character  of  custom,  filled  him  with  a  bewildered 
dismay.  His  was  not  a  trained  mind  to  think  consecu 
tively,  to  deduce  correct  conclusions ;  he  blundered 
upon  his  convictions  ;  his  plans  were  founded  on  im 
pulse,  inclination.  Ignorance  is  not  compatible  with 
a  just  and  accurate  foresight.  His  resolves,  taken  in 
a  tumult  of  angry  volition,  he  would  seek  to  execute 
without  due  regard  to  feasibility  or  perception  of 
sequences,  and  he  had  no  sense  of  justice  and  could 
maintain  no  poise  of  temper.  "  What  for  no  ? "  he 
reiterated,  striking  at  his  wife  with  the  rope's  end. 

Thong-like  it  curled  around  her  body,  the  end 
lashing  her  arm,  bare  to  the  elbow,  with  force  enough 
to  raise  a  welt.  Experience  had  ripened  such  wis 
dom  as  she  possessed,  and  in  self-defense  she  forbore 
to  exasperate  further  her  brutal  husband.  She  said 
naught  of  the  smart  of  the  lash,  but  recanted  hastily. 
"  I  just  took  up  the  idee  that  he  was  somebody  else. 
I  thought  that  old  man  Faurie  was  dead.  Ain't  this 
his  widder?" 

128 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

"Widder?—  rats!  old  Faurie's  widder ?  That  slim, 
handsome,  high-steppin'  gal !  She  is  his  son's  wife, — 
she  'lowed  to  you  that  her  name  was  Mrs.  Faurie." 

"Mebbe  so;  they  hev  been  gone  to  Europe  so  long 
I  lost  the  run  of  'em/'  the  woman  meekly  admitted. 

"Naw,  that  ain't  it,"  Jedidiah  sneered.  "Ye  are 
grudgin'  her  them  good  looks  an'  brash,  high-handed 
ways;  draggle-tailed  vixens  like  you  can't  stand  for 
other  women  to  be  young  an'  sniptious."  He  spat 
moodily  into  the  Mississippi.  "  That  was  young  Fau 
rie  an'  his  brand-new  wife — the  old  man  is  dead  long 
ago.  I'm  thinkin'  the  brat  mus'  be  his  leetle  brother. 
I  remember  that  there  was  a  new  baby  at  Great  Oaks 
mansion  about  ten  year  ago;  I  noticed  it  'cause  the 
old  plantation  bell  was  rung  like  mad  for  rejoicing, 
like  it  had  an  ager  fit,  an'  the  Swamp  Lily  an'  other 
boats  whistled  a  salute  when  they  passed,  though  such 
is  agin  the  regulations." 

"  I  hed  n't  never  been  hereabouts  in  them  days," 
she  stipulated,  by  way  of  excuse  for  her  lack  of  readi 
ness  to  confirm  these  vagrant  and  erratic  recollections 
of  his  wandering  experiences  as  he  floated  down  the 
river  with  his  store  of  goods,  or  poled  his  craft  labori 
ously  in  and  out  of  the  bogues  and  bayous.  "  I  lived 
then  over  in  the  Arkansas."  She  held  her  head  down 
for  a  moment.  A  scene  had  arisen  before  her  mind 
best  discerned  with  eyes  closed :  a  little  cabin  in  a  bit 
of  clearing  in  the  dense,  dark  woods;  a  filthy,  miry 
dooryard;  the  fowls  and  hogs  and  lean  old  mule,  all 
clustered  about  the  rickety  porch ;  a  stationary  home 
on  dry  land, — all  seemed  paradise  at  this  instant  to 

129 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

the  amphibious  nomad,  for  the  rope's  end  stung,  and 
her  indurated  sensibilities  had  yet  some  nerve  a-tingle 
to  the  coarse  taunt  and  the  bitter  fling. 

"Why,  any  fool  but  you  would  know.  Didn't  she 
say  that  she  was  Mrs.  Faurie?  And  did  n't  he  tell  the 
brat  he  shouldn't  have  the  wheel  at  no  price?  And 
didn't  he  tell  her  she  must  take  his  word  for  it?  And 
didn't  he  grab  the  woman  by  the  elbow  and  the  cub 
by  the  collar,  like  they  belonged  to  him,  an'  start  them 
off  the  boat,  him  looking  as  fierce  as  Judgment  Day? 
An'  ain't  that  the  Faurie  plantation,  Great  Oaks, 
where  we  was  tied  up?  Answer  me  that, — answer  me, 
—  answer  me, — ye  tongue-tied  slut,  —  or  I'll  cut  yer 
tongue  out." 

"Oh,  laws,  Jed,"  said  Jocelinda,  her  nerve  shaken 
and  very  near  to  tears.  "  I  'lowed  that  she  was  a  wid- 
der  lady.  She  spoke  of  her  kids.  I  'lowed  that  boy 
was  one  of  'em.  I  hearn  her  say  that — " 

"Ye  'lowed  an'  ye  hearn  like  a  dod-rotted  fool. 
That  man  is  Faurie  and  owns  Great  Oaks!  An'  ye 
can  bet  yer  immortal  soul  I'll  give  him  somethink 
to  think  about  soon  that'll  make  him  forgit  he  ever 
seen  a  bike  or  a  tradin'-boat,  air  one." 

He  had  risen  from  the  coil  of  rope  and  was  step 
ping  about  elastically  on  the  deck  as  if  he  intended 
to  pole  the  craft  in  to  the  shore.  She  silently  f ollowed 
his  example,  first  placing  the  child  in  the  centre  of  the 
coil  of  rope,  and  taking  her  turn  at  the  work  with 
strength  and  activity  as  muscular  as  if  she  were  a  man. 
Perhaps  an  infusion  of  cheerfulness  aided  her  exer 
tions,  for  they  were  making  for  a  bayou  that  the  river 

130 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

sent  sluggishly  wandering  down  with  scant  impetus 
from  its  currents  through  the  swamps  and  the  heavy 
glooms  of  a  cypress  slough,  and  she  welcomed  the 
sense  of  added  safety  in  the  deep  seclusions  of  the 
wilderness.  Before  the  Faurie  party,  with  the  utmost 
expedition  which  the  isolated  situation  of  Great  Oaks 
Plantation  permitted  them,  could  contrive  to  notify 
the  authorities  of  any  suspicion  they  might  have  enter 
tained,  the  shanty-boat  would  have  quitted  the  thor 
oughfares  of  the  river,  leaving  not  a  trace.  The  story 
of  the  imminent  danger  of  being  run  down  by  the 
Flora  P.  Mayberry  would  suggest  some  similar  dis 
aster  as  a  reason  for  the  disappearance  of  the  flatboat- 
man  and  his  craft.  The  bicycles — there  were  only 
three — could  be  hidden,  destroyed,  buried  in  the 
deep,  murky,  marshy  tangles  of  the  lagoons.  Here  it 
would  be  scarcely  possible  that  the  fugitives  should 
be  seen  or  followed,  —  a  succession  of  cypress  brakes, 
of  swampy  pools,  a  network  of  bayous  and  sloughs 
with  scarcely  a  dry  acre  for  miles,  the  land  of  no  value 
and  impracticable,  the  locality  the  deepest  solitude, 
the  aquatic  growths  of  an  impenetrable  density.  She 
had  not  expected  to  sleep  that  night  with  so  grateful 
a  sense  of  security,  for  it  was  not  long  before  the  boat 
was  tied  up  in  a  jungle  of  young  cottonwood  trees, 
awaiting  the  passing  of  the  hours  till  dawn  should 
bring  the  light  necessary  for  the  navigation  of  such 
tortuous  ways.  But  she  was  up  and  ready  at  the  first 
glimmer,  her  energies  recruited  as  much  by  the  sur 
cease  of  suspense  as  by  the  physical  rest. 

As  the  gray  day  began  to  break,  dim  and  clouded, 

131 


THE  FAIR  Mi  SSISSIPPI  AN 

it  might  seem  to  a  sophisticated  sense  a  desolate 
scene,  for  even  such  symmetry  as  the  sluggish  bayou 
possessed  was  obliterated ;  and  now  the  boat  was  poled 
along  a  stream-like  channel,  and  now  it  threaded  a 
series  of  lakelets  connected  by  narrow  straits,  full  of 
half-submerged  growths,  and  again  it  seemed  almost 
aground  in  a  slough  where  the  medium  was  mud 
rather  than  water.  These  lakelets  were  of  an  inky 
blackness,  and  in  their  midst  stood  forlorn  forests 
of  gigantic  cypress ;  upon  the  dark,  mirror-like  sur 
face  of  the  water  the  white  boles  of  the  trees,  long 
ago  deadened  by  a  permanent  inundation  from  some 
freak  of  the  changeful  river,  were  reflected  with  weird 
distinctness  and  a  spectral  effect.  The  boat  was  as  if 
afloat  in  a  world  of  dead  vegetation,  the  duplication  of 
the  lifeless  trees  below,  the  ghostly  white  forest  tower 
ing  above.  Now  and  again  a  sharp  bit  of  steering 
became  necessary  to  keep  the  craft  clear  of  the  cypress 
knees,  as  the  conical,  protruding  excrescences  of  the 
roots  are  called,  rising  considerably  above  the  sur 
face  of  the  water.  Hanging  moss  depended  in  vast 
masses  and  heavy  festoons  from  the  bare  white  boughs 
far,  far  above,  and  served  to  deepen  the  gloom  of  the 
eerie  effect  of  the  scene.  More  than  once  the  voyagers 
saw  an  alligator  lying  half  embedded  in  ooze  and  mud, 
looking  as  lifeless  as  the  log  it  resembled ;  but  one 
had  awakened  apparently  from  the  period  of  hiberna 
tion,  and  was  swimming  down  the  centre  of  the  black 
lake.  Jedidiah  Knoxton,  watching  his  approach,  was 
dubious  which  course  he  might  take,  in  meeting  the 
boat,  in  the  narrow  passage. 

132 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"He  don't  understand  the  code  of  signals  nohow/' 
he  demurred.  "  'T  would  n't  be  no  good  to  whistle  if 
I  could." 

The  alligator  solved  the  problem  as  far  as  he  was 
concerned  by  diving  suddenly,  and  doubtless  embed 
ded  himself  in  the  refuge  of  the  mud.  The  question 
as  to  where  he  might  come  up  again  presented  another 
doubt  to  the  mind  of  Jed  Knoxton,  but  he  prodded 
boldly  with  his  pole,  and  presently  they  had  passed, 
the  huge  saurian  still  invisible. 

There  were  other  tokens  of  the  spring  besides  the 
awakening  of  the  alligators  from  their  wintry  torpors. 
Birds  were  flitting  through  the  air ;  frogs  were  all 
a-croak  about  the  logs;  the  slimy,  nondescript  medley 
of  vegetation  and  muck  was  here  and  there  pierced  by 
tender  spears  of  delicate  yet  intense  green,  the  folded 
leaves  and  shoots  of  the  swamp  lily.  Suddenly  the  first 
ray  of  the  sun  struck  upon  a  wide  expanse  of  silver 
sheen  in  the  distance,  —  it  was  a  lake  evidently  miles 
in  length,  of  the  peculiar  horseshoe  contour  char 
acteristic  of  the  lacustrine  waters  of  the  region,  sur 
rounded  by  dense  and  gloomy  forests,  and  fringed 
with  saw-grass.  This  thick,  prickly  growth,  so  heavily 
notched  as  to  suggest  its  name,  caught  Jed  Knoxton's 
attention.  It  was  a  keen  glint  of  green  at  this  season, 
almost  as  intense  as  light  itself.  Jed  Knoxton  stood 
still  and  held  his  hand  above  his  eyes  as  he  gazed ; 
then  he  turned  to  scan  some  landmark  which  he  iden 
tified  toward  the  west,  and  again  he  shifted  toward 
the  east. 

"  I  done  los'  my  bearin's  somehow  in  the  swamp," 

133 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

he  muttered.  "  I  been  polin'  todes  the  north  'stead  o* 
south.  An'  damn  that  old  corkscrew  of  a  river.  We 
drifted  thirty  miles  las'  night  to  make  five  miles  o' 
distance." 

He  still  stood  absorbed  and  pondering  when  his 
wife  issued  from  the  little  cabin  on  the  deck.  "  What 's 
the  matter,  Jed?"  she  asked  apprehensively.  Smoke 
was  curling  from  the  stove-pipe  thrust  through  the 
roof,  and  the  sizzling  of  frying  pork  came  with  its 
pungent  odor  from  the  open  door.  She  held  in  her 
hand  a  long  iron  spoon  coated  with  meal  batter  while 
she  fixed  expectant  and  anxious  eyes  upon  him. 

"  Jes'  as  well,  jes'  as  well !  "  he  muttered. 

"  What  is  it,  Jed ;  what  you  studyin'  about  ?  "  she 
persisted. 

"  We  made  no  distance  las'  night  scarcely  on  that 
twisted  sarpient  of  a  river,"  he  said.  "  It  is  blamed 
like  that  old  joke  of  the  fool  drummers,  —  travel 
fifty  mile  down  the  Mississippi,  an'  then  take  your 
gripsack  an'  walk  half  a  mile  back  to  where  you 
started  from."  He  grinned  in  surly  mirth.  "  Then  I 
done  shortened  it  some  more  by  missin'  my  way  in 
the  swamp."  He  looked  about  in  dull  speculation,  as 
if  he  were  wondering  anew  how  this  mischance  should 
have  betided  him,  and  she  dreaded  lest  he  might  fail, 
in  considering  this  problem,  to  disclose  the  intention 
evidently  slowly  forming  in  his  mind.  But  for  him 
its  interest  was  paramount.  It  struck  her  as  a  blow 
in  the  face  might  have  done  when  she  heard  it  voiced 
anew,  for  she  had  hoped  that  time  and  distance  had 
combined  to  obliterate  it,  and  it  boded  ill,  she  knew. 

134 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

"  We  ain't  more  'n  five  miles  from  the  edge  of  Great 
Oaks  Plantation,  —  I  know  it  by  the  earmarks  o' 
that  old  White  Deer  Lake.  An'  it 's  just  as  well,  — 
just  as  well  —  p'intedly  convenient,  in  fac'.  I'm 
goin'  to  give  Mr.  Faurie  of  Great  Oaks  Plantation 
something  to  study  about  that  will  make  him  forgit 
there  was  ever  sech  a  thing  as  a  bike  or  a  tradin'- 
boat,  air  one." 


CHAPTER  VII 

JL  HE  ensuing  days  were  bland  and  soft,  and  the 
Faurie  family  life  gravitated  insensibly  to  the  wide 
verandas  of  the  Great  Oaks  mansion,  where  much 
time  was  spent  in  futile  chat,  and  where  one  could 
take  the  air  without  the  exertion  of  exercise  and  be 
out-of-doors  without  the  trouble  of  quitting  the 
house.  It  was  a  fine  illustration  of  the  best  method 
of  dolce  far  niente.  The  favorite  rendezvous  was 
beneath  the  canopy  of  live-oak  boughs  on  the  exten 
sion  of  the  veranda  just  outside  the  library  windows, 
and  here  Desmond  often  joined  the  group,  saying  to 
himself  that  it  had  an  air  of  churlish  avoidance  to 
hold  himself  aloof  when  they  were  all  so  near.  In 
these  days  he  heard  no  little  of  Mrs.  Faurie's  plaints 
of  the  limited  capacities  of  Great  Oaks  for  rational 
entertainment. 

"  Nothing  to  do,  —  nothing  to  say,  —  nothing  to 
see.  '  Oh,  give  me  to  drink  of  mandragora,  that  I 
may  sleep  away  this  gap  of  time ! '  "  she  exclaimed, 
as  she  reclined  languidly  in  her  garden  chair. 

There  was  something  to  see  in  the  Great  Oaks 
avenues, — the  sward  was  rich  and  fresh,  and  all  the 
vague,  sparse,  spring  foliage  of  the  trees  sent  out 
a  glitter  now  of  gold  and  now  of  green.  Hyacinths, 
pink  and  white  and  blue,  shook  their  fairy  bells 
in  a  parterre  near  the  house,  and  the  trellises  in  the 
old-fashioned  garden  were  delicately  sprayed  with 

136 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

green,  lace-like  leafage.  There  was  much  to  see  in 
the  vast,  murky  floods  of  the  Mississippi  River  ;  the 
opposite  hanks  had  wholly  disappeared  in  the  en 
croachments  of  the  water  on  the  swampy  Arkansas 
shore,  and  as  its  limits  were  beyond  the  reach  of 
vision,  its  aspect  was  that  of  some  great  inland  sea. 
When  Desmond  remarked  on  the  phenomenon,  Mr. 
Stanlett  stated,  with  the  pride  which  the  dwellers  on 
the  banks  of  the  river  take  in  its  arbitrary  and 
monarchical  exhibitions  of  power,  that  sometimes 
here,  in  high  water,  it  measured  sixty  miles  wide,  and 
always  in  the  Bend  its  average  depth  was  not  less 
than  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet. 

"  And  just  beyond  the  point  the  lead-line  often 
marks  scant  four  feet  on  the  sandbars,"  Mrs.  Faurie 
interpolated  iconoclastically. 

The  words  suggested  a  lurking  danger  to  the 
larger  craft  visible,  the  possibility  of  getting  aground 
even  in  such  a  vast  welter  of  waters.  A  great  tow 
of  coal  was  in  mid-stream,  bound  from  Pittsburgh 
to  New  Orleans,  the  steamboat  pushing  before  her 
a  score  of  broad,  laden  barges,  ranged  elliptically 
about  her  prow,  and  gliding  slowly  and  majestically 
down  the1  current.  Seen  above  the  summit  of  the 
dense  forests  in  the  distance,  against  the  bland,  blue 
sky,  a  whorl  of  black  smoke  uncoiling  from  lofty 
chimneys  announced  the  approach  of  the  steamer  of 
the  regular  packet  line  rounding  the  point ;  and  the 
upward  course  of  a  snag-boat  had  its  own  suggestion 
of  yet  another  of  the  jeopardies  of  the  navigation  of 
the  great,  lawless  river. 

137 


THE  FAIR  MISSI  SSIPPI  AN 

"  Talking  about  something  to  drink,"  said  Mr. 
Stanlett,  a  bit  uneasily,  "  I  had  a  queer  experience 
yesterday.  I  was  out  riding,  and  when  that  sudden 
shower  came  up,  I  was  pretty  far  from  home  and  got 
soaking  wet.  And  —  you  know  my  rheumatism  —  I 
stopped  at  the  first  house  I  could  reach  ;  it  was  Jes- 
sop's  shack,  and  I  went  in  to  dry  off  by  his  fire. 
Well,  —  Jessop  is  a  friendly  fellow,  and  would  have 
me  take  a  drink  to  keep  from  catching  my  death  of 
cold.  You  know  he  is  only  an  Irish  wood-chopper, 
—  makes  a  scanty  living  by  furnishing  wood  from 
anybody's  land  who  will  give  it  to  him  for  the  clear 
ing,  and  selling  it  to  anybody  who  will  buy  it ;  but  I 
accepted  because  I  don't  like  to  refuse  a  civility  from 
such  a  person,  —  and,  bless  my  soul !  it  was  French 
brandy,  —  good  sound  Cognac.  He  was  mightily  sur 
prised  when  I  told  him  so.  He  said  he  knew  that  it 
was  a  tipple  to  which  he  was  unaccustomed,  but  it 
cost  the  same  as  '  bust-head  whiskey  ' ;  he  said  it  was 
all  the  same  to  him  so  long  as  it  fired  up  all  right, — 
'  made  drunk  come.'  He  bought  it  from  that  shanty- 
boat." 

Desmond  looked  up  significantly  at  Mr.  Stanlett, 
who  resumed :  "  You  are  right,  sir,  —  stolen,  no 
doubt !  I  fear  from  the  Whippoorwill  Landing  stock. 
I  remember  that  though  Ackworth  kept  a  general 
assortment  of  goods,  he  had  a  limited  class  of  fine 
custom.  Some  rich  people  live  near  Whippoorwill 
Landing,  and  they  preferred  to  give  him  their  orders 
instead  of  dealing  elsewhere.  Ackworth  was  of  the 
gentry  himself,  —  came  of  good  people,  —  broken  up 

138 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 
f 

by  the  Civil  War.  He  put  what  he  had  left  into  this 
store ;  he  had  been  in  the  Confederate  army,  though 
one  of  the  youngest  veterans  —  distinguished  him 
self  —  was  very  popular  —  and  as  the  planters  round 
about  gave  him  all  their  custom  instead  of  sending 
to  Memphis  or  New  Orleans,  he  kept  in  stock  such 
choice  grades  of  articles  as  they  would  require.  I 
fear  this  brandy  was  stolen  and  that  bicycle  also; 
I  wish  that  I  had  taken  your  view  and  given  notice 
of  our  suspicions  to  the  police  authorities." 

"  To  be  quite  candid,  I  did  not  think  it  prudent  to 
abide  by  the  theory  of  non-action,"  said  Desmond. 
"  I  wrote  that  evening,  —  and  the  mail-boat  took  the 
letter  next  morning." 

Mrs.  Faurie  sat  up  straight  in  her  chair  and  looked 
about  her  with  widening  eyes,  —  that  a  tutor  in  her 
house  should  take  the  initiative  in  its  direction  !  Mr. 
Stanlett's  delicate  face  flushed.  Even  through  hia 
sparse  silver  hair  one  could  see  the  polished  scalp,  all 
roseate.  He  said  nothing,  however,  looking  down  at 
his  cigar  as  he  flipped  off  the  ash. 

Desmond  noticed  their  evident  attitude  of  mind 
both  with  humiliation  and  indignation.  Then  he 
roused  himself,  —  for  his  paltry  salary  they  did  not 
buy  his  identity,  annul  his  personality. 

"The  responsibility  was  mine,"  he  said  icily,  more 
in  self-assertion  and  in  response  to  their  offended 
silence,  their  mien  of  rebuke  of  his  presumption,  than 
because  of  any  sense  of  obligation  to  give  account  of 
his  motives.  "  It  was  I  who  discovered  the  quality 
of  the  article  offered  at  a  mere  fraction  of  its  value. 

139 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Knowing  that  it  must  have  been  stolen,  I  did  not  feel 
justified,  as  far  as  I  was  concerned,  in  remaining 
silent." 

"  There  is  a  grave  responsibility  in  unwarranted 
interference,"  remarked  Mr.  Stanlett,  dryly. 

"  And  in  bringing  down  suspicion  on  innocent  peo 
ple,  perhaps,"  Mrs.  Faurie  said,  with  cold  reproach. 

"  If  the  proprietor  of  the  trading-boat  came  hon 
estly  by  a  wheel,  perfectly  new  and  a  favorite  make, 
which  he  is  able  to  offer  for  sale  at  five  dollars,  he 
will  have  no  difficulty  in  making  the  fact  clear.  It  is 
not  my  prerogative  to  judge." 

"I  should  be  sorry  to  provoke  the  enmity  of  a 
rude,  lawless  man  such  as  that,  by  putting  upon  him 
an  unnecessary  affront  and  hardship,"  Mr.  Stanlett 
coldly  urged.  He  had  no  longer  his  genial  drawl  of 
leisure  and  luxury.  His  intonation  was  crisp,  clear-cut. 

"  As  I  understand  it,  a  heinous  and  brutal  murder 
was  committed  only  last  fall  at  Whippoorwill  Land 
ing,"  Desmond  said,  his  pride  pulsing  in  his  temples, 
his  own  restiveness  under  expressed  displeasure  show 
ing  haughtily  in  his  flushed  face.  "  To  have  knowledge 
—  or  such  grounds  of  suspicion  as  amount  to  know 
ledge  —  of  stolen  merchandise  being  vended  through 
the  country  at  fantastic  prices  and  yet  say  nothing, 
in  my  opinion  comes  perilously  near  conniving  at  the 
escape  of  the  villains,  —  accessory  after  the  fact." 

Mrs.  Faurie  turned  and  surveyed  the  tutor  with 
wide  eyes  and  a  look  of  such  affronted  amazement 
that  even  he  quailed  before  them.  Desmond  was  im 
pressed  with  the  fact,  noted  by  him  for  the  first  time, 

140  " 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

but  doubtless  often  perceived  before  by  others,  that 
the  very  rich  are  fearless  of  the  ordinary  operations 
of  disaster.  The  aegis  of  great  possessions  overshadows 
them.  The  law  is  their  ally,  for  their  protection ;  the 
imputation  that  by  their  negligence,  or  assumptions, 
or  bravado,  or  inconsiderateness  it  could  be  arrayed 
against  them  is  in  itself  a  ridiculous  impossibility,  a 
sort  of  grotesque  parody  on  fact,  a  distortion  of  the 
powers  of  established  order.  All  other  menace  is  like- 
wise  abated  in  their  favor.  The  dangers  of  travel  are 
minimized  for  them ;  the  distresses  of  sickness  are 
mitigated ;  every  ill  that  flesh  is  heir  to  is  softened 
and  alleviated  and  embellished  till  they  are  scarcely 
to  be  identified  with  the  woes,  savage  and  hideous, 
that  rack  the  multitude ;  and  death  itself  is  so  be 
dizened  and  beautified  and  exalted  that  it  ceases  to 
be  the  great  leveler.  Mrs.  Faurie's  astonishment  that 
anything  that  she  or  hers  thought  proper  to  do  could 
be  liable  to  misconstruction,  to  question,  to  dispar 
agement,  was  beyond  words. 

Mr.  Stanlett,  however,  stared  at  him  with  a  sort 
of  dawning  comprehension  in  his  watery  blue  eyes. 
"  Upon  my  word,  I  never  thought  of  it  in  that  light ! 
—  ridiculous  aspersion  —  impossible,  though,  as  far 
as  we  are  concerned  ;  but,  I  believe,  —  in  respect 
to  the  law,  the  bare  facts  of  the  case, — silence  might 
aid  the  murderers,  shedding  the  goods  of  which  they 
stripped  that  store  among  the  flatboat-men,  wood 
cutters,  ditchers,  and  niggers." 

"  Then  Mr.  Desmond  was  right  ? "  asked  Mrs. 
Faurie,  seriously. 

141 


THE    FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  Yes,  —  yes,  —  though  I  deprecate  anything  that 
tends  to  draw  upon  this  house  the  enmity  of  the 
wretches." 

"  The  law  is  its  best  protection/'  declared  Desmond. 
"  To  make  them  feel  the  power  of  the  law  is  the  real 
resource.  To  let  them  and  their  fences  and  pals  get 
away  with  impunity  is  to  invite  depredations." 

"Yes,  yes,  — true,  true!"  said  Mr.  Stanlett.  "But 
you  take  a  good  deal  on  yourself,  Mr.  Desmond." 

"  It  was  imposed  upon  me  by  good  conscience  and 
good  citizenship." 

"Ah,  well,  now,  —  I  don't  know  about  good  con 
science,"  said  Mr.  Stanlett,  drawing  hard  at  his  cigar, 
but  with  renewed  satisfaction.  "Batting  the  eye  is 
necessary  sometimes.  It  won't  do  to  see  so  much,  and 
deduce  so  correctly,  and  act  so  promptly.  Let  sleep 
ing  dogs  lie." 

"  Do  you  call  these  sleeping  dogs  ?  " 

"  So  far  as  we  are  concerned  they  are.  Quiet, 
peace,  security,  —  we  have  them  all  at  Great  Oaks." 

"  And  a  dullness  that  has  no  parallel  outside  the 
grave,"  declared  Mrs.  Faurie,  once  more  falling  back 
in  her  graceful  reclining  posture.  She  had  never 
seemed  to  Desmond  so  beautiful  as  to-day.  She  wore 
the  daintiest  of  afternoon  dresses,  of  delicate  laven 
der  broadcloth,  and  the  dazzling  purity  of  her  complex 
ion  was  even  more  radiantly  asserted  in  the  full  light. 
Her  gray  eyes,  with  their  dense,  long  black  lashes, 
seemed  more  expressive  in  their  petulant,  slumberous 
disaffection.  From  her  white  brow  her  hair  rose  in 
the  usual  pompadour  effect,  but  its  rich  brown  tint  was 

142 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

heightened  by  the  broad  illumination  of  out-of-doors, 
and  her  lips  had  all  the  lustre  of  wet  coral.  Into  the 
ineshes  of  the  lace  of  her  high  "  transparent  collar" 
and  chemisette,  that  showed  the  gleam  of  her  snowy 
white  neck  and  throat,  was  thrust  a  set  of  stick-pins 
of  amethyst.  She  held  some  wands  thickly  studded 
with  pink  almond  blooms  in  her  hand.  "  Great  Oaks 
leads  the  field  for  monotony,"  she  said  disconsolately. 
"  It  might  be  a  gentle  distraction  to  be  called  upon 
to  defend  the  mansion  against  river  pirates." 

She  suddenly  sat  up  straight,  her  eyes  dilating 
and  brightening,  her  infrequent  flush,  an  incompar 
able  tint,  mounting  into  her  cheeks.  "Think  how  it 
would  sound  in  the  deep  midnight,  —  if  the  old 
plantation  bell  should  boom  out  on  the  air,  up  the 
river  and  down  the  river,  and  across  the  Bend,  calling 
on  all  who  ever  stood  on  the  pay-roll  of  Great  Oaks 
Plantation,  or  owed  it  a  good  turn,  or  wished  it  well, 
to  lend  a  hand  at  its  utmost  need.  I  can  hear  it  now! 
It  would  sound  so  far  !  It  would  shake  the  moss  on 
the  cypress  trees  in  the  White  Deer  Swamp,  where 
ghosts  have  been  seen.  It  would  rouse  the  gangs  at 
the  engineering  work  who  are  trying  to  raise  the  river 
on  jackscrews,  or  sinking  a  revetment  mat,  or  building 
a  dyke  at  the  point,  or  whatever  they  are  up  to  over 
yonder  in  the  chute.  It  would  even  start  up  the 
loafers  from  the  card-tables  at  the  old  Shin-Plaster 
Landing,  way  down  on  the  Arkansas  side,  where 
everybody  says  they  gamble  half  the  night.  And  the 
Swamp  Lily  would  be  climbing  up  the  current,  and 
old  Captain  Cleek  —  who  dropped  me  into  the  Missis- 

143 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

sippi  River  once  when  I  was  a  baby  and  he  was 
a  mud  clerk,  and  my  parents  were  leaving  the  steam 
boat  in  mid-stream  to  make  the  landing  in  a  yawl, 
and  who  has  always  declared  he  owed  me  indemnity 
for  a  ducking  —  would  signal  to  head  for  the  shore 
with  every  pound  of  steam  that  his  engines  can  carry." 

Mr.  Stanlett  moved  uneasily,  and  now  and  again 
cast  a  furtive,  anxious  glance  at  her  sparkling,  girlish 
face.  This  badinage  was  far  from  appealing  to  him. 
He  had  sought  once  or  twice  to  interrupt,  but  in  the 
very  desperation  of  idleness  and  lack  of  interest  she 
found  a  sort  of  entertainment  in  the  picture  that  she 
had  conjured  up,  and  persisted :  — 

"What  would  you  two  do?  All  out  here  in  the 
grove  where  it  is  so  egregiously  dark  of  a  moonless 
night  —  we  shan't  have  this  function  on  till  the  moon 
changes  —  there  would  appear  occasionally  a  sudden, 
funnel-shaped  flare  of  light  and  a  sharp  report,"  — 
she  put  her  hands  over  her  ears  for  a  moment  as  if 
to  shut  out  the  sound,  —  "  and  Mr.  Desmond  would 
be  winning  his  spurs,  and  Uncle  Clarence  would  be 
wanting  to  show  how  worthy  he  is  of  his,  already 
won,  and  the  babies  would  be  telling  each  other,  and 
everybody  else,  how  wrong  and  wicked  and  purblind 
I  was  never  to  let  them  learn  to  shoot  so  that  they 
might  now  fill  the  marauders  full  of  lead ;  and  I  — 
why  I  —  would  just  open  the  door  a  bit  ajar,  and  — 
'  Gentlemen/  "  — with  the  most  gracious  bow  and  an 
airy  waving  of  the  hand,  —  "'the  goods  and  chattels 
in  this  house  are  somewhat  antique,  but  with  a  lot  of 
wear  in  them  yet.  They  are  racy  of  the  soil,  and  the 

144 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

trail  of  the  European  serpent  is  over  none  of  them. 
They  are  all  at  your  service.  As  to  the  people,  —  Mr. 
Stanlett  is  a  man  wise  in  counsel,  gentle  in  manner, 
and  a  genial  companion  at  dinner;  Mr.  Desmond  will 
teach  you  "to  speak  Greek  as  naturally  as  pigs 
squeak";  and  you  are  welcome  to  both  of  them  until 
I  can  ransom  them,  which  I  will  do  as  soon  as  I  can 
save  something  from  my  next  year's  income!  —  all 
for  the  slight  consideration  that  you  will  give  me  and 
my  squabs  a  free  passage  down  to  Natchez  on  the 
Swamp  Lily,  -— r  and  no  questions  asked  ! '  "  She  paused 
breathless,  triumphant.  "  Now,  Uncle  Clarence,  don't 
you  think  that  would  wake  us  up?" 

He  turned  to  throw  his  cigar  stub  over  his  shoul 
der  into  the  grass.  The  wind  was  stirring  the  long, 
drooping  branches  of  the  live  oak  above  their  heads, 
and  little,  fluttering  ripples  ran  through  the  folds  of 
the  skirt  of  her  gown.  "I  think  that  we  may  have 
yet  something  to  disturb  us,  not  so  sensational,  but 
sufficiently  perturbing.  There  is  no  necessity  to  '  raise 
the  river  on  jackscrews.'  Colonel  Kentopp  thinks  we 
are  going  to  have  an  overflow  in  Deepwater  Bend. 
The  river  is  at  flood  height,  and  in  several  localities 
above,  the  water  is  standing  against  the  levee.  There 
have  been  recent  rains  all  through  the  upper  country. 
He  says  that  since  the  rise,  the  work  of  the  River 
Commission  on  the  other  side  has  had  the  effect  of 
throwing  a  water  of  overwhelming  weight  against  the 
levee  above  his  place,  and  if  it  breaks  at  Ringfence 
Plantation,  where  it  was  always  liable  to  crevasses, 
considerable  territory  in  the  Bend  must  go  under  too." 

145 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  So  poor  Colonel  Kentopp  makes  his  moan !  We 
never  go  under  on  account  of  the  cross  levee.  I  am 
mighty  sorry  for  his  anxiety ;  an  overflow,  especially 
if  it  were  not  general,  would  hurt  the  sale  of  Dryad- 
Dene,  and  he  has  been  negotiating  that  place  so  long 
with  that  rich  Mr.  Loring.  For  my  part,  I  believe 
that  man  will  need  only  so  much  land  as  he  can  lie 
down  in,  —  he  will  be  dead  before  he  makes  up  his 
mind  to  buy,"  Mrs.  Faurie  prophesied. 

She  gazed  silently  out  for  a  time  at  the  tawny 
sweep  of  the  Mississippi  at  flood  height,  beyond 
the  vivid  variant  tints  of  the  bourgeoning  spring 
growths.  "I  wish  the  Mississippi  River  were  drained. 
Such  a  torment  as  it  has  been.  What  a  queer  thing 
its  channel  would  be,  though.  Just  think  of  it !  Boats 
unnumbered,  of  all  sizes  and  pretensions,  from  the 
first  little  stern-wheeler  to  the  floating  palaces  of  the 
days  of  the  Robert  E.  Lee  and  the  Great  Republic. 
Then  the  bones  of  all  the  people  that  have  gone  down 
in  the  fires  and  collisions  and  swampings  and  sink 
ings  to  their  watery  graves!  The  nations,  the  races, 
they  are  all  represented  there,  and  who  knows  \vhat 
prehistoric  people!  And  in  modern  times  the  Eng 
lish,  the  French,  the  Spaniard,  —  De  Soto,  himself, 
must  be  there  yet.  He  could  not  be  swept  with 
the  current  down  to  the  Gulf,  for  he  was  buried  in 
his  armor,  encased  in  a  hollow  log,  and  he  must  be 
lying  still,  oh,  very  still,  the  great  wanderer!  bound 
to  one  restricted  spot,  —  the  great  explorer!  undor 
tons  and  tons  of  the  ooze  and  mud  of  the  Mississippi, 
that  he  came  so  far  to  find,  and  that  has  held  him 

146 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

fast  so  long!  Yes, — the  bottom  of  the  Mississippi 
River  must  be  a  strange  sight  indeed/' 

"  Might  try  a  diving-bell ;  that  would  put  an  end 
to  the  dullness !  "  suggested  Reginald,  who  had  come 
up  and  was  leaning  over  the  high  back  of  her  chair 
as  she  talked.  Now  and  again  his  eyes  wandered  to 
the  tennis-court  at  one  side  of  the  house,  where  Hor 
ace  and  Chubby  were  playing  a  match,  running  very 
nimbly,  but  serving  the  balls  badly  enough  from  the 
standpoint  of  his  superior  expertness.  Mrs.  Faurie 
did  not  reply.  Her  eyes  were  fixed  on  a  mounted 
figTire  approaching  through  the  grove,  presently 
identified  as  a  groom  from  Colonel  Kentopp's  place. 
Dismounting  at  the  foot  of  the  steps,  he  presented  a 
note  with  the  request  for  an  answer. 

"An  answer?"  said  Reginald,  who  had  run  down 
the  flight  of  steps  to  receive  it.  "  Then  you  had  bet 
ter  ride  around  to  the  kitchen  and  wait." 

As  the  groom  rode  off  and  Reginald  turned  to 
ascend  the  steps  he  remarked :  "  From  the  Kentopps, 
mamma,"  holding  up  the  envelope,  showing  the  elab 
orate  crest.  Then,  as  she  extended  her  hand,  he 
continued  in  the  accents  of  an  extreme  but  half-sup 
pressed  surprise:  "It  is  addressed  to  Mr.  Desmond." 

The  tutor  looked  up  in  blank  amaze,  the  expression 
deepening  on  his  face  as,  after  a  request  for  permis 
sion,  he  read  the  contents.  The  note  was  from  Mrs. 
Kentopp,  in  a  tone  of  the  suavest  urbanity  and  the 
most  friendly  and  informal  cordiality,  begging  that 
he  would  give  Colonel  Kentopp  and  herself  the  plea 
sure  of  his  company  at  Dryad-Dene  for  the  week-end. 

147 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  We  have  some  very  charming  young  friends  staying 
with  us  whom  we  wish  you  to  meet,  and  especially  we 
wish  to  give  them  the  pleasure  of  knowing  you.  I  have 
selected  the  week-end,  thinking  that  this  will  not  much 
conflict  with  your  schoolroom  duties  with  the  little 
Faurie  torments.  So  I  beseech  you  to  let  us  have  you 
Thursday  evening,  Friday,  Saturday,  and  Sunday.  We 
will  returi*  you,  with  no  disparagement  of  your  wis 
dom,  early  Monday  morning,  though  we  don't  intend 
to  be  very  serious  and  staid  at  Dryad-Dene  either." 

He  could  not  command  the  muscles  of  his  face  in 
his  surprise  as  he  read,  and  his  disconcerted  doubt 
and  dismay  were  so  patent  that  Mrs.  Faurie  cried  out 
gleefully :  — 

"  Have  mercy  on  our  curiosity !  What  are  the 
Kentopps  doing  to  you  ?  " 

Without  a  word  he  handed  her  the  note.  Her  bril 
liant  eyes  scanned  the  lines  with  a  brightening  interest 
over  all  her  face.  "  Why,  how  perfectly  delightful ! 
A  dance  after  dinner  Thursday  evening  —  Mercy  !  in 
Lent  ?  —  oh,  I  remember,  —  it  is  Mi-Careme.  Will 
they  have  enough?  —  Yes,  with  Miss  Allandyce  and 
the  Mayberrys  and  Miss  Dennis  and  Rupert  Regnan 
and  those  two  young  gentlemen  who  were  landed  from 
the  Primrose  last  night,  and  Miss  Kelvin,  and  she  sug 
gests  others  whose  names  she  does  not  mention,  — 
and  a  camp  hunt  on  Friday  and  Saturday, — '  the 
young  ladies  are  wild  to  go!'  —  Oh,  I  know  they 
are,  and  I  will  bet  everything  that  they  do  go,  and 
spoil  the  fun  for  the  men.  —  No  shooting  Sunday, 
— but  only  the  sylvan  pleasures  of  the  camp ;  for  if 

148 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

the  ladies  don't  go  earlier,  they  will  then  join  the 
hunters  for  a  day  in  the  woods.  How  delightful ! 
How  perfectly  delightful!  But," — a  shadow  crossed 
her  face,  quizzical,  but  nevertheless  a  shadow  — 
"  how  very  strange  that  she  does  n't  invite  me  !  " 

"  I  was  thinking  of  that,"  Desmond  remarked.  "  It 
must  be  an  oversight." 

"  How  can  it  be  ? —  *  Cordial  remembrances  to  dear 
Mrs.  Faurie.'  " 

"  I  don't  understand  it,"  he  said  helplessly. 

"I  do,"  Mrs.  Faurie  declared;  "she  is  relegating 
me  to  my  proper  place  as  an  old  woman.  This  enter 
tainment  is  given  for  the  young  people;  'gay  youth 
loves  gay  youth.' ' 

Desmond  flushed.  "  I  think  it  an  extreme  imperti 
nence  on  the  part  of  the  Kentopps." 

"Well,  —  in  a  way.  I  shouldn't  take  up  much 
room,  —  and  oh,  how  I  should  have  enjoyed  it, — 
the  days  are  so  long ! " 

"  If  you  will  excuse  me,  I  will  step  into  the  library 
and  answer  the  note,"  said  Desmond,  rising  slowly 
from  his  chair. 

"  Do ;  and  I  am  sure  that  you  will  have  a  charm 
ing  time,  —  it  will  be  a  delightful  break  in  the 
monotony  for  you." 

Desmond  stood  aghast.  "  I  have  not  the  most  re 
mote  idea  of  accepting."  He  had  his  hand  on  the 
back  of  his  chair,  and  he  leaned  slightly  upon  it  as  he 
looked  down  at  her.  His  expression  seemed  reflected 
upon  her  face. 

"  But,  my  dear  child,  you  must  accept/'  she  ex- 

149 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

claimed  in  dismay.  "  I  would  n't  have  you  miss  it  for 
any  consideration." 

"I  don't  think  an  acceptance  is  appropriate  — 
with  you  excluded." 

She  laughed  lightly.  "  Can't  you  see  that  it  is  a 
party  of  young  people,  and  that  it  is  only  my  incura 
ble  frivolity  that  makes  me  frenzied  to  go  to  it  ?  You 
are  the  only  member  of  the  household  of  the  appro 
priate  age  for  such  volatile  amusements.  The  children 
are  too  young  for  society  such  as  this,  and  Uncle 
Clarence  and  I  are  too  old.  I  insist  upon  it.  I  .will 
not  have  it  otherwise.  Go  write  your  acceptance,  or 
I  will  do  it  for  you." 

Still  he  leaned  on  the  back  of  his  chair,  and  still 
he  looked  at  her  doubtfully.  Rarely  indeed  since  his 
advent  at  Great  Oaks  had  his  face  shown  its  natural 
lines  of  expression.  It  was  frank,  gentle,  almost  ap 
pealing  now,  without  the  cool  constraint,  the  aloof 
dignity,  the  critical  reserve,  it  generally  wore.  "  The 
Kentopps  did  not  particularly  attract  me,  —  and,  to 
be  candid,  I  think  that  I  perceived  that  I  was  not 
acceptable  to  Mrs.  Kentopp.  It  would  be  distasteful 
to  me  to  go." 

Mrs.  Faurie  remembered  suddenly  Mrs.  Kentopp's 
pointed  exclusion  of  Desmond  in  her  proposition  for 
a  game  at  cards,  her  manner  of  airy,  unseeing  indif 
ference. 

"  But  you  must  perceive  from  this  note  that  there 
was  nothing  intentional,  —  it  is  cordiality  and  con 
sideration  itself.  Mrs.  Kentopp's  manners  are  so  af 
fected  and  she  is  so  self-absorbed  that  it  is  easy  to 

150 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

take  her  amiss.    One  should  not  he  too  exacting ;  we 
must  take  the  people  in  this  world  as  we  find  them." 

Obviously,  however,  he  was  not  placated,  and  she 
resumed  with  a  note  of  decision  :  "  Now,  I  make  this 
a  personal  matter.  As  a  favor  to  me  I  hope  that  you 
will  accept  this  invitation.  The  Kentopps  are  exceed 
ingly  civil  to  you,  —  and  you  have  no  excuse.  They 
would  think  a  declination  very  strange.  And,  besides, 
I  want  you  to  have  the  little  bit  of  entertainment  that 
you  can  get  from  a  neighborhood  visit,  while  you  are 
consigned  to  this  slough  of  despond  yclept  Great  Oaks 
Plantation.  I  only  wish  I  had  an  invitation,  too,  - 
She  dropped  her  hands  in  her  lap  with  a  gesture  of 
mock  despair,  then  she  laughed  out  gayly  at  herself. 

"  Could  n't  you  go  without  it,"  he  suggested. 
"  There  seems  such  an  established  friendship  between 
the  families,  formality  might  be  dispensed  with." 

"  If  the  note  had  been  addressed  to  me,  —  perhaps. 
If  I  had  been  charged  with  the  transmission  of  the 
message  to  you,  I  might  have  stretched  a  point  and 
interpreted  it  as  inclusive.  But  no  !  —  I  am  expressly 
and  of  set  purpose  excluded.  I  am  out  of  the  game ! 
There  is  nothing  for  me  but  to  sit  down  in  the  chim 
ney-corner  and  just  be  old." 

She  turned  her  radiant  face  up  toward  him,  the 
most  apt  interpretation  of  beauty  in  its  fullest  expres 
sion  he  had  ever  imagined,  the  bloom  of  perfect  de 
velopment  upon  it,  the  rare  ripe  fulfillment  of  the 
promise  of  first  youth.  She  was  apart  from  the  idea 
of  time.  There  were  more  lines  about  Chubby's  eyes, 
from  much  crinkling  with  laughter ;  her  fair,  smooth 

151 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

lids  showed  naught  but  the  form  of  their  perfect  de 
sign.  Reginald  had  a  vertical  crease  between  his 
brows,  from  a  frown  of  perplexity  he  sometimes  wore 
in  moments  of  cogitation ;  but  his  mother's  face  was 
as  free  from  the  trace  of  care  as  of  age,  and  morning 
itself  looked  out  of  her  eyes. 

The  point  of  exclusion  was  so  preposterous  an  in 
cident,  —  it  was  so  jejune,  and  lacking  in  social  tact 
and  appropriateness,  that  Desmond,  try  as  he  might, 
could  not  interpret  it.  He  did  not  give  over  his  im 
pressions  of  Mrs.  Kentopp,  for  all  her  fair  words  now; 
he  did  not  easily  forgive  or  forget,  but  the  ground 
of  offense  was  untenable.  It  was  infinitely  unpalatable 
to  accept,  yet  it  was  not  practicable  to  decline,  and 
he  was  as  little  in  a  holiday  mood  as  ever  in  his  life 
when,  two  days  later,  the  Kentopps'  phaeton,  which 
had  been  sent  for  him,  rolled  up  to  the  porte-cochere 
of  the  mansion  at  Dryad-Dene  Plantation. 

If  Great  Oaks  were  reminiscent  of  the  past,  it  might 
seem  that  Dryad-Dene  was  a  respecter  only  of  the 
morrow.  It  could  hardly  be  said  to  be  up-to-date,  - 
it  was  an  earnest  of  the  future.  Certainly  it  was  the 
most  modern  house  in  all  that  portion  of  Mississippi ; 
and  but  that  the  surrounding  woods,  with  the  pecul 
iarity  of  harboring  no  shoots  nor  underbrush,  be 
tokened  the  locality,  one  could  scarcely  have  identified 
the  vicinage.  The  river  was  out  of  sight ;  the  levee, 
unseemly,  utilitarian,  suggestive  of  jeopardy  in  its 
promise  of  protection,  held  its  serpentine  course  far 
beyond  the  range  of  the  windows  of  Dryad-Dene. 
There  were  no  forest  trees  immediately  about  the 

152 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

house ;  the  grounds  were  laid  off  in  the  formal  Italian 
style,  with  conventional  walks  in  the  midst  of  a  fine 
green  turf  embellished  with  cone-shaped  evergreens 
and  other  ornamental  shrubs,  white  stone  vases,  ter 
races  with  stone  copings  and  steps ;  and  pleasing 
though  the  effect  was  to  the  eye,  it  was  as  foreign  to  all 
suggestions  of  Mississippi  as  if  it  had  been  hundreds 
of  miles  from  the  dominant  old  river.  Only  when  its 
beauty  might  compensate  for  its  old-fashioned  savor 
was  aught  brought  into  use  of  merely  domestic  sug 
gestions.  These  walks  were  covered  with  tiny,  fine 
white  shells,  brought  up  by  steamer  in  hogsheads  from 
the  Gulf  coast ;  and  charming  as  was  their  aspect,  this 
entailed  not  more  expense  than  ordinary  gravel, 
which  must  needs  have  been  imported  also,  for  there 
was  not  a  pebble  to  be  found  in  all  this  stoneless  re 
gion.  A  crystalline  glitter  from  one  side  betokened 
the  slanting  glass  sashes  of  the  conservatory,  and  great 
ornamental  plants  —  palms  and  Japanese  tree-ferns  — 
were  ranged  on  either  side  of  the  stone  flight  of  steps 
of  the  main  entrance,  as  well  as  the  porte-cochere. 
The  house  was  of  brick,  with  stone  facings,  the  roof 
of  fantastic  device,  of  many  peaks  and  gables ;  a  tower 
was  at  the  eastern  corner ;  a  deep  loggia,  an  oriel 
window,  a  balcony,  embellished  the  facades  else 
where,  breaking  up  every  suggestion  of  regularity  in 
the  architectural  effect. 

The  large  reception  hall,  into  which  Desmond  was 
ushered,  had  a  fire  blazing  in  a  deep  chimney-place, 
so  huge  as  to  be  of  mediaeval  suggestion,  and  a  grand 
staircase  in  massive  oak,  descending  in  devious  turns, 

153 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

with  here  a  landing  below  a  great,  stained  glass  win 
dow,  and  here  a  niche  in  which  was  a  marble  bust  on 
a  tall  pedestal ;  on  the  lowest  step  was  lolling  a  young 
lady,  a  cup  of  tea  in  her  hand  and  a  riding-crop  across 
her  knee.  There  were  several  other  figures  turning  at 
gaze  as  he  entered ;  in  fact,  the  apartment  seemed  full 
of  people  to  Desmond,  coming  into  an  unaccustomed 
entourage  from  the  brighter  light  without.  It  was  a 
moment  or  two  before  his  dazed  sight  disintegrated 
the  group.  Most  of  the  party  were  sipping  tea,  as  they 
stood  about,  their  whips  under  their  arms,  for  they 
were  in  riding  costume.  Two  ladies  sat  chatting  in  the 
high-backed  antique  chairs  on  either  side  of  the  fire. 
A  little  beyond,  in  a  deep  bay-window,  was  a  tea-table, 
a  rich  gleam  of  color  with  its  choice  ware  and  lustre 
of  silver,  where  Mrs.  Kentopp,  in  a  blue-and-white 
striped  silk  tea-gown,  long  and  flowing,  was  handling 
the  sugar-tongs,  while  a  tall,  blond  youth  was  holding 
out  his  cup  toward  her,  apparently  facetiously  dick 
ering  for  an  extra  lump.  She  suddenly  caught  sight 
of  Desmond,  and  sent  the  sugar-bowl  falling  to  the 
tray  and  scattering  its  treasures  as  she  rose  precipi 
tately. 

"  There,  now  !  "  she  exclaimed,  "  I  said  I  heard 
horses'  hoofs,  and  this  greedy  thing  said  I  did  n't," 
— '•  for  the  young  man  had  possessed  himself  of  the 
tongs  and  was  sweetening  his  tea  to  his  own  taste. 
"I  can't  hear  the  phaeton's  wheels  for  the  rubber 
tires." 

She  swept  toward  Desmond,  the  skirt  of  her  gown 
trailing  behind  her,  and  the  white  lace  which  veiled 

154 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

its  front  from  yoke  to  hem  all  shimmering  above 
the  broad  blue-and- white  stripes  of  the  silk  founda 
tion.  "  Mr.  Desmond/'  she  cried,  "  how  good  of  you 
to  come  1 "  She  pressed  his  hand  cordially,  and  turned 
about  to  the  group  with  her  most  coquettish  air,  her 
fluffy  flaxen  curls  above  her  forehead  somewhat  more 
deeply  tinted  in  the  glow  of  the  fire  and  the  light 
through  the  ruby  "  jewels  "  of  the  stained  glass  win 
dow.  "  This  is  the  Mr.  Desmond  with  whom  we  all 
fell  in  love  over  at  Great  Oaks,"  she  exclaimed  joyously. 

"  Is  it  the  regulation  thing  to  fall  in  love  with  Mr. 
Desmond  ?  "  one  of  the  young  ladies  asked,  as  Mrs. 
Kentopp,  having  concluded  her  flaring  collective  in 
troduction,  began  to  mention  the  names  of  the  guests 
nearest  at  hand. 

Miss  Allandyce  was  standing  beside  the  tall  newel- 
post,  and  he  noted  in  surprise  that  she  wore  the 
dark  cloth  "cross-saddle  riding-breeches  "  affected 
by  progressive  horsewomen,  with  boots  to  the  knee 
and  a  riding-coat,  in  lieu  of  the  habit  in  which  he 
was  accustomed  to  see  fair  equestrians.  The  cos 
tume  was  not  utterly  unknown  to  his  observation,  but 
never  should  he  have  expected  to  see  it  here,  and 
affected  by  a  lady  with  the  unmistakable  southern 
accent.  She  was  tall  and  thin,  though  of  a  large  frame, 
and  wore  her  masculine  gear  as  successfully  as  a 
big,  bony  boy  might  have  done.  She  was  not  without 
charm ;  her  gauntleted  hands  were  small,  her  boots 
were  shapely  and  slender  and  displayed  a  high  instep. 
She  had  a  Derby  hat  in  one  hand,  while  she  held  her 
crop  under  her  arm,  and  nibbled  at  a  sandwich  from 

155 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

the  other.  She  had  a  fair,  frank,  freckled  face ;  her 
auburn  hair  was  packed  high  on  her  head  to  be  well 
out  of  the  way  of  the  Derby,  and  amidst  the  mass  two 
or  three  fleecy  short  curls  escaped  from  a  richly  tinted 
tortoise-shell  comb.  She  seemed  much  at  ease,  and 
moved  about  with  great  freedom  among  the  petti 
coats,  though  there  was  no  other  costume  similar  to 
her  attire.  The  delusive  draperies  of  a  divided  skirt, 
which  one  of  the  party  wore,  came  to  the  floor,  and 
were  even  fuller  and  much  less  graceful  than  the 
familiar  riding-habit  of  the  girl  who  sat  upon  the 
step,  and  who  was  of  the  type  so  usual  in  that  country, 
—  the  woman  who  looks  like  a  white  rose,  with  dark 
eyes  and  hair  and  very  fair,  delicate  skin ;  who  spends 
the  summer-time  resting  indoors,  with  a  novel,  taking 
care  of  her  complexion;  who  would  as  soon  consign 
herself  and  her  complexion  to  Tophet  as  bathe  in 
the  sea,  or  climb  a  mountain,  or  walk  out  without 
a  veil  or  a  mask  of  chamois  after  April.  She  had 
an  oval  face,  her  lips  were  red,  and  her  high  silk  hat 
had  all  the  chic  which  the  contrast  with  exceeding 
femininity  is  expected  to  afford. 

"  Can  I  bow  upward  ?  "  she  asked,  with  a  ripple  of 
lazy  laughter.  "  Is  it  polite  to  bow  when  you  are  sit 
ting  on  the  floor  ?  " 

"  You  are  perfectly  horrid,  Gertie,  —  the  idea  of 
pretending  to  be  so  worn  out  as  all  that  by  a  little 
horseback  exercise ! "  Mrs.  Kentopp  declared,  with 
an  assumed  air  of  pettish  displeasure.  "  Please  don't 
speak  to  Miss  Kelvin,  I  beg  of  you,  Mr.  Desmond. 
Remember  that  I  have  n't  introduced  you." 

156 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  I  am  saving  up  for  the  dance  this  evening,  Mr. 
Desmond,"  the  young  lady  declared.  "  You  ought 
to  be  glad  that  you  did  not  get  here  in  time  for  the 
drag-hunt.  We  have  had  a  run  after  an  old  bag,  that 
we  made  believe  was  a  fox,  —  and  I  never  knew  be 
fore  how  many  bones  I  had  to  ache." 

"  Would  you  ache  any  less  if  you  had  had  a  fox 
instead  of  an  anise-seed  bag?"  Mrs.  Kentopp  re 
proached  her.  "  Let  me  give  you  some  tea,  Mr.  Des 
mond  " ;  and  with  all  her  silken  train  a-flutter  she 
whisked  back  to  the  tea-table. 

"  Yes,  indeed,  —  glory  would  have  sustained  me," 
Gertrude  Kelvin  declared.  "  I  was  ahead  of  the 
hounds,  Mr.  Desmond,"  she  protested,  still  in  her  soft 
collapse  on  the  lowest  step  of  the  stairs.  "  The  field 
was  nowhere.  I  can't  say  that  I  was  in  at  the  death, 
for  there  was  nothing  to  die ;  but  if  I  could  have 
had  the  brush,  I  should  have  been  forever  happy.  No 
body  could  call  me  lazy  any  more !  I  can't  say  that  I 
captured  the  bag —  Is  that  sportsmanlike,  Mr. 
Desmond?" 

"  Did  the  hounds  run  well  ?  "  asked  Desmond,  seek 
ing  to  seem  interested,  now  equipped  with  a  cup  of 
tea  and  a  sandwich,  and  free  to  stand  about  at  a 
distance  from  Mrs.  Kentopp. 

"  Oh,  —  they  did  that !  "  exclaimed  Miss  Gertrude 
Kelvin,  wagging  her  head  and  widening  her  eyes  to 
express  great  speed ;  "  and  I  was  in  —  with  the  bag 
to  hold ! " 

"  Oh,  the  hounds  make  me  mad,  —  they  are  so 
easily  deceived !  I  hate  a  fool ! "  Miss  Allandyce 

157 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

came  up  in  a  gentlemanly  fashion  near  Desmond  and 
Miss  Kelvin,  looking  down  at  that  young  lady,  who 
was  secretly  a  bit  out  of  countenance  at  her  prox 
imity  in  this  novel  attire.  She  said  no  more,  and 
Miss  Allandyce  went  on  presently,  moving  one  of  her 
handsome  feet  with  a  heel  and  toe  alternation,  to 
which  she  was  accustomed  with  her  skirts,  but  which 
now  had  a  style  of  brazen  indifference  in  the  mind 
of  the  young  lady  clumped  up  in  her  habit  at  the 
foot  of  the  stairs.  "  It  is  a  pretty  good  pack,  though." 

"  Colonel  Kentopp's  kennels,  or  do  they  belong  to 
a  neighborhood  hunt?"  asked  Desmond. 

Both  girls  opened  wide  eyes  to  horrify  and  impress 
him. 

"  Neither  ! "  replied  Miss  Kelvin,  significantly. 

"Isn't  that  ridiculous?"  exclaimed  the  strong- 
minded  Allandyce,  whirling  half  around  on  her  heel. 
"  The  pack  belongs  to  an  old  wood-chopper  named 
Sloper,  —  and  '  the  quality '  borrow  his  dogs." 

"  Is  n't  that  low  ?  "  Miss  Kelvin  cast  up  her  dark 
eyes  from  her  humble  posture.  "  He  is  all  right — for 
a  wood-chopper !  Is  he  Irish,  —  or  Scotch  ?  He  has 
a  queer  accent." 

"  Plain  Mississippi,  —  without  any  foreign  frills," 
replied  Miss  Allandyce. 

"He  lives  all  alone,  —  got  no  relatives,  —  and 
keeps  such  a  lot  of  dogs  for  company,  he  says.  They 
are  just  friends  of  his,  —  guests,  a  permanent  house- 
party,  and  oh  !  —  think  of  it !  —  when  they  all  ask 
together  to  be  helped  first  at  breakfast." 

"  And  the  neighborhood  planters  object  to  it,  for 

158 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

he  won't  take  a  cent,  and  they  don't  want  him  in  the 
run  ;  but  if  they  borrow  his  dogs,  they  have  to  invite 
him  and  treat  him  as  a  guest  for  the  time  being.  So 
about  a  year  ago  they  thought  they  would  make  up 
a  good  pack  —  "  explained  Miss  Allandyce. 

"  Went  at  it  in  great  style  —  "  interpolated  Miss 
Kelvin. 

"  Imported  dogs,  —  English  —  " 

"Colonel  Kentopp  bought  some  beauties  —  " 

"Great  price  —  " 

"  Oh, — oo — oo  — !"  said  Miss  Kelvin,  but  beyond 
that  enigmatic  syllable  she  could  not  express  her  sen 
timents. 

"  Oh,  —  oo  —  oo  ! "  echoed  Miss  Allandyce. 

Their  eyes  filled  with  tears  of  laughter,  as  one 
looked  down  and  the  other  looked  up. 

"  Well,  how  did  they  run  ?  "  asked  Desmond. 

Miss  Kelvin  in  her  lowly  posture  took  refuge  in 
the  safety  of  silence.  She  began  to  manifest  renewed 
interest  in  her  sandwich,  and  proceeded  to  eat  it  up 
on  both  sides  of  its  bit  of  encircling  ribbon. 

Perhaps  even  the  assumption  of  manly  attire  im 
parts  a  degree  of  courage.  Miss  Allandyce  chose  a 
bolder  course.  She  walked  first  to  the  tea-table  and 
put  down  her  cup,  —  Desmond  realizing  too  late  that 
the  influence  of  her  boyish  aspect  had  prevented 
him  from  offering  that  service.  As  she  came  back, 
her  Derby  in  her  hand  and  flecking  her  boots  with 
her  riding-whip,  she  looked  over  her  shoulder  once  or 
twice  to  make  sure  of  Mrs.  Kentopp's  distance.  Then 
she  said :  "  I  '11  tell  you,  but  you  must  never  mention 

159 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

it  to  her,  and  above  all  things  never  to  the  colonel, — 
he  is  a  sweet  dear  and  I  love  him  !  His  English  hounds 
ran  like  fun ;  they  gave  tongue  like  a  bell,  —  the 
most  mellow,  searching,  thrilling,  musical  sound  you 
ever  heard,  —  and  the  first  staked-and-ridered  rail 
fence  they  came  to  —  " 

"  They  could  as  easily  have  climbed  a  tree,  the 
poor  foreigners ! "  giggled  Miss  Kelvin,  sly  in  her 
corner. 

"  Such  a  fence  as  our  swamp  dogs  would  just 
scramble  over,"  explained  Miss  Allandyce ;  "  but 
the  imported  English  hounds  ran  hither  and  thither, 
squeaking  and  wheezing,  and  Colonel  Kentopp  —  " 

"  They  say  his  language  was  awful !  "  —  Miss 
Kelvin  had  crumpled  herself  up  very  small. 

"I  never  see  him  so  decorous  in  church  without 
thinking  of  it,"  said  Miss  Allandyce,  and  the  two 
exchanged  a  glance  of  extreme  relish. 

"  The  hounds  climbed  the  fence  at  last  ?  "  asked 
Desmond,  impatient  for  the  sequel. 

There  was  a  moment  of  silent  and  speechless  mirth. 
Then  Miss  Allandyce  said,  in  a  husky  voice  and  with 
eyes  full  of  tears,  "  Colonel  Kentopp  and  the  hunts 
man  dismounted  and  lifted  the  imported  English 
hounds  over  the  fence,  —  and  by  that  time  the  fox 
had  run  to  Issaquena  County  !  " 

"  Why,  what  a  gay  time  you  are  having  over 
there !  What 's  the  fun  ?  Don't  keep  the  joke  to 
yourselves,"  called  out  Mrs.  Kentopp,  in  the  midst  of 
their  laughter.  But  she  did  not  approach  the  group, 
and  presently  the  two  recovered  their  composure. 

160 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"I  wonder,  —  I  have  often  wondered  what  did 
ever  become  of  those  imported  hounds,"  speculated 
Miss  Allan dyce. 

"  Perfect  dears,  too." 

"  So  handsome  !  But  they  were  seen  here  no  more, 
and  whenever  '  the  quality '  have  a  run,  they  borrow 
old  man  Sloper's  house-party,  and  put  the  old  wood- 
chopper  up  on  as  good  a  horse  as  there  is  in  the 
county." 

"  They  don't  indulge  in  riding  to  hounds  about 
Great  Oaks,  do  they,  Mr.  Desmond?"  asked  Miss 
Kelvin,  still  resting  her  bones. 

"  Not  since  I  have  been  there,"  replied  Desmond. 

"How  long  will«you  be  at  Great  Oaks?"  asked 
Miss  Allandyce. 

"  Why,  I  hardly  know,"  replied  Desmond,  slightly 
embarrassed. 

"  Oh,  they  make  it  so  delightful  to  guests,  I  don't 
wonder  you  can't  say  when  you  will  get  your  visit 
out,"  Miss  Kelvin  remarked. 

A  sudden  illumination  broke  in  upon  Desmond's 
mind.  Mrs.  Kentopp  had  not  acquainted  her  house- 
party  with  their  fellow  guest's  vocation. 

"But  I  am  not  a  guest  at  Great  Oaks,"  said  Des 
mond,  quickly.  "  I  am  the  tutor." 

An  appalled  astonishment  was  on  the  face  of  both 
young  girls  for  an  instant.  Miss  Kelvin  remained  si 
lent,  but  Miss  Allandyce  rejoined  in  a  tone  which 
obviously  sought  to  keep  the  key  of  the  previous  chat, 
"Oh,  yes,  —  Mrs.  Faurie  has  three  children, —  what 
a  charming  household  it  is  there !  "  Then  she  drew 

161 


,  THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

a  tiny  watch  from  her  fob  and  said  in  a  low  tone  to 
Miss  Kelvin :  "  I  wonder  that  Mrs.  Kentopp  does  n't 
let  us  go  and  dress.  I  shall  be  a  fright  if  I  don't 
have  at  least  an  hour." 

"  We  have  to  dance,  too,  in  our  dinner-gowns," 
Miss  Kelvin  murmured  a  trifle  absently. 

Desmond,  silently  upbraided  his  folly  in  yielding 
to  the  insistence  that  had  brought  him  here.  Despite 
his  gentle  breeding,  the  position  of  his  family,  the 
opportunities  of  wealth  that  he  had  hitherto  enjoyed, 
his  culture,  he  felt  that  he  was  at  a  disadvantage  in 
general  society.  His  poverty,  his  station  as  a  private 
tutor,  —  to  small  boys,  mere  children,  —  rendered  his 
presence  an  incongruity  among  frivolous  people  who 
could  not  know  and  could  not  appreciate  him  fairly. 
He  had  no  opportunity  to  make  his  value  and  qual 
ity  felt.  It  was  only  in  some  cultured  coterie  capable 
of  going  deeper  than  the  shallow  appraisement  of 
fashion  that  he  could  ever  hope  to  find  again  his  level. 
He  could  not  forgive  himself  that  he  had  laid  him 
self  liable  to  this  misapprehension,  and  for  his  life 
he  could  not  imagine  why  Mrs.  Kentopp  had  given 
her  guests  no  intimation  of  his  position,  to  avoid  such 
a  contretemps  as  he  had  encountered.  For  their  own 
sake,  and  for  hers,  they  would  have  been  civil  in  any 
event.  Had  she  intended  to  pass  him  off  as  a  man  of 
their  world,  of  wealth  and  leisure  and  luxury  ?  And 
why,  indeed  ?  For  his  own  part  he  had  no  desire  to 
pose  in  a  guise  that  must  coerce  their  respect.  But 
the  malapropos  incident  had  made  him  feel  out  of 
place,  as  if  he  were  a  presuming  aspirant,  patronized 

162 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

by  the  Kentopps,  and  foisted  upon  their  guests'  soci 
ety  without  warrant.  Neither  of  the  young  ladies 
had  spoken  again,  both  apparently  absorbed  in  their 
eagerness  to  be  off  to  dress,  and  the  negligence  of 
Mrs.  Kentopp,  still  flirting  at  the  tea-table,  to  give 
them  the  opportunity. 

Suddenly  Colonel  Kentopp  entered  and  rushed  for 
ward  with  an  enthusiastic  extended  hand.  "  Why, 
my  dear  sir,"  he  exclaimed  heartily,  "  I  did  n't  know 
that  you  had  yet  arrived.  Glad  to  see  you !  How  well 
you  are  looking !  The  sight  of  you  is  good  for  sore 
eyes."  His  left  hand  had  crept  up  to  Desmond's 
shoulder,  which  he  patted  affectionately  as  he  spoke. 
"  Wish  you  could  have  been  with  us  on  the  run 
to-day,  —  great  time !  —  But  what  are  you  all  daw 
dling  around  here  for?  It  is  time  to  dress  for  dinner. 
The  Mayberrys  and  Timlocks  will  be  here  long  before 
you  are  ready.  Joyce,  keep  those  sweet  nothings  that 
you  are  whispering  into  my  spouse's  ear  for  a  season 
of  more  leisure."  And  he  advanced  upon  the  tea-table, 
where  Mrs.  Kentopp  was  mildly  carousing,  so  to  speak, 
in  a  flirtation  with  a  man  almost  young  enough  to 
have  been  her  own  son.  She  broke  out  into  a  peal 
of  her  affected,  coquettish  laughter,  and  Desmond  in 
their  midst  looked  on  with  as  unresponsive  a  pulse, 
with  as  alien  and  unrelated  a  mien,  as  if  among  some 
mystic  crew  of  Comus. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A  HE  room  to  which  Desmond  was  assigned  was 
never  intended  for  an  unimportant  guest.  As  he 
looked  about  him,  he  could  not  understand  the  in 
congruity.  The  Kentopps  were  neither  of  them  such 
people  as  value  a  man  for  his  own  sake,  regardless 
of  wealth  or  station ;  they  had  no  fine  perceptions 
that  could  discriminate  the  higher  attributes ;  they 
were  devoid  of  that  gift  of  generosity  which  belittles 
self  to  make  the  more  of  greater  worth ;  they  could 
not  even  understand  a  lofty  poise  of  mind,  and  it 
amazed  him  that  they  should  seem  to  strain  after  it, 
—  to  ignore  the  trivial  incident  of  the  vital  fact. 

It  was  a  spacious,  airy  apartment  at  one  of  the  cor 
ners  of  the  building,  and  the  sharp  angle  was  decorated 
with  a  dainty  oriel  window,  though  large  enough  to 
hold  a  fauteuil,  a  writing-desk,  and  a  shelf  of  books; 
from  this  outlook  one  might  see  down  a  deep  bosky 
dell  artificially  beautified,  with  a  tangle  of  vines  and 
interlacing  shrubs,  amongst  which  was  visible  here 
and  there  an  elusive  face,  with  the  pointed  ears 
of  the  fauns  and  elves  of  garden  statuary.  There 
were  no  trees  of  tall  growth,  and  hence  he  caught  a 
repeated  glimpse  of  jets  of  leaping  water  among 
the  leafage,  and  in  the  stillness  he  could  hear  the 
splashing  of  a  fountain.  At  the  end  of  a  pleached 
alley  was  a  rustic  pavilion,  evidenced  by  its  conical 
roof,  and  in  the  opposite  direction  a  life-size  figure  in 

164 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

marble  on  a  pedestal  had  suggestions  befitting  the 
classic  ideal  of  sylvan  nymphs.  The  new  fad  of  an 
old  dial  was  illustrated  in  a  shadowy  nook  where  the 
sun  might  make  scant  register  of  time.  This,  Desmond 
was  sure,  was  the  "dene"  which  gave  the  place  its 
name.  The  preciousness  of  its  design  affronted  him, 
despite  its  prettiness.  In  his  unconsciousness  he 
did  no  homage  to  the  ingenuity  of  Kentopp,  who, 
after  the  burning  of  his  simple  farmhouse,  inher 
ited  from  his  father,  at  the  other  end  of  the  place, 
had  utilized  this  desirable  building-site  despite  the 
proximity  of  an  old  "bear  wallow,"  —  the  swampy 
depression  thus  drained,  civilized,  and  made  orna 
mental  and  even  poetic.  Any  declivity  or  acclivity 
was  rare  in  this  level  region,  and  the  "  dene "  was 
greatly  admired ;  its  original  status  was  wholly  for 
gotten  in  the  success  of  the  landscape  gardener's 
achievement,  save  when  some  blunt  yeoman  neighbor 
sought  a  rift  in  the  armor  of  the  Kentopps*  satisfac 
tion  and  the  relish  of  a  crude  joke  by  directing  a 
note  or  other  paper-writing  to  "  Kentopp  Bear  Wal 
low  "  instead  of  "  Dryad-Dene." 

As  Desmond  turned  from  the  window  and  again 
surveyed  the  room,  he  was  struck  anew  by  the  elabo 
rate  aspect  of  its  appointments.  A  reclining-chair 
invited  to  lounging,  with  foot-rest  and  book-holder. 
There  was  the  daintiest  of  toilet  tables  draped  with 
lace,  instead  of  the  heavy  old  mahogany  bureau  such 
as  the  gentry  of  Deepwater  Bend  were  accustomed 
to  use ;  and  in  place  of  the  immemorial  mahogany 
four-poster  was  a  brass  bedstead,  also  canopied  and 

165 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

covered  with  lace,  and  furnished  with  a  duvet  of  deli 
cate,  embroidered  blue  silk.  The  polished  floor  had 
rugs  in  which  this  azure  hue  predominated ;  an  open 
door  gave  on  a  bath-room  tiled  in  blue  and  white,  and 
the  cut-glass  candlesticks  among  the  other  crystal  ac 
cessories  of  the  toilet  table  held  faint  blue  wax  tapers, 
—  never  intended  for  use,  however,  for  a  flood  of 
gas-light  illumined  the  room,  and  made  his  prepara 
tions  an  easy  matter,  in  contrast  with  the  usual  labors 
of  dressing  in  the  country  for  a  festive  occasion  by 
the  light  of  a  kerosene  lamp,  however  decorated. 

Desmond  had  earlier  experienced  a  natural  youth 
ful  gratulation  that  his  evening  clothes,  relic  of  his 
London  visit  the  previous  June,  seeming  a  thousand 
years  ago  and  in  a  different  state  of  existence,  were 
so  fresh  and  unworn,  and  a  specially  handsome  garb. 
He  could  at  least  appear  to  personal  advantage  and  be 
no  discredit  to  his  entertainers.  Now  he  did  not  care ! 
He  fretfully  adjusted  the  diamond  studs,  a  gift  that 
he  had  not  parted  with  in  all  the  exigencies  of  the 
financial  stress  he  had  known,  and  the  choice  and  fine 
sleeve-links,  also  mementos  of  happier  days.  He  would 
as  soon  wear  jeans,  he  said  to  himself,  as  he  stood,  tall 
and  conspicuously  imposing,  before  the  long  mirror, 
tying  his  cravat  with  a  touch  that  grudged  its  prac 
ticed  deftness,  for  in  his  undergraduate  days  he  had 
been  something  of  a  dude,  despite  the  roughening 
influences  of  the  u  Gridiron."  He  called  out  in  a  per 
emptory  tone  when  a  tap  fell  upon  the  door,  and  as 
it  opened  admitting  a  young  gentleman,  one  of  the 
guests  of  the  house,  the  leisurely  drawl  with  which 

166 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

he  entered  upon  his  mission  received  an  impetus  from 
the  imperious  gravity  and  challenge  of  the  eyes  fixed 
upon  him. 

"Mrs.  Kentopp  requested  that  as  I  was  going 
by  —  Great  Scott !  they  do  you  immensely  proud." 
He  was  young,  and  blond,  and  of  slight  figure,  and 
had  already  a  tendency  to  baldness.  He  was  not  tall, 
but  very  erect,  deported  himself  with  conscious  chic, 
and  spoke  with  a  superficial,  negligent  enunciation. 
It  was  with  an  air  of  surprised  amusement  that  he 
paused  to  look  about  the  room.  "  They  have  n't  put 
me  up  half  so  fine.  I  feel  slighted,"  with  an  airy  laugh. 
"  Well,  —  Mrs.  Kentopp  asked  that  as  I  was  going  by 
I  would  stop  for  you,  to  —  to"  — he  was  beginning 
to  feel  the  influence  of  Desmond's  eyes  —  "  to  show 
you  where  the  drawing-rooms  are  located." 

"  Lest  I  should  lose  my  way  without  chart  or  com 
pass,"  Desmond  commented. 

"  Well, — they  seemed  actually  to  try  to  twist  things 
when  this  house  was  planned, — nothing  is  where  you 
would  expect  to  find  it,"  said  Mr.  Herndon. 

"  I  am  beholden  to  you,  then,  for  towing  me  to  a 
safe  harbor,"  said  Desmond. 

Young  Herndon  had  recovered  his  equanimity. 
"Kentopp  is  such  an  incorrigible  dawdle  that  she  dare 
not  trust  him.  But  I  have  a  special  virtue  of  prompt 
ness,  —  among  my  many  other  virtues.  My  friends 
say  that  I  will  die  some  day  twenty  minutes  before 
my  time  comes." 

Notwithstanding  this  vaunted  promptitude,  there 
were  several  gentlemen  already  in  the  large  drawing- 

167 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

ing-rooms  when  the  two  entered.  The  glitter  of  gas 
and  crystal  from  the  chandeliers,  the  gloss  of  the  floors, 
the  richness  of  the  oriental  rugs,  the  gilded  chairs  and 
sofas,  upholstered  in  cream  and  terra-cotta  satin  bro 
cade,  the  glow,  deep  yet  delicate,  of  costly  pictures, 
the  scattered  ornaments,  vases  of  Venetian  glass  and 
choice  porcelain,  tall  urns  of  Persian  ware,  Chinese 
curios  in  carved  ivory,  —  there  was  not  a  suggestion 
of  home  but  the  great  fire  blazing  behind  a  brass 
fender  and  andirons,  and  this  was  so  bedizened  by  a 
modern  "  high-art "  mantel,  that  the  leaping  hickory 
flames  had  much  ado  to  make  the  domestic  note 
heard  in  the  bizarre  medley;  and  indeed  the  fire  itself 
was  a  mere  matter  of  ornament,  for  the  house  was 
heated  by  a  furnace  fed  by  Pittsburgh  coal,  even  more 
convenient  in  this  riparian  locality  than  wood  which 
must  be  hewn,  and  incredibly  cheap  by  reason  of  the 
low  rates  of  water-carriage  as  compared  with  railway 
freightage.  Neither  of  the  Kentopps  had  yet  ap 
peared,  and  as  Desmond  entered  the  room,  though 
maintaining  his  manner  of  proud  composure,  he  was 
grateful  for  the  fact.  Their  overwhelming  cordiality 
daunted  him  in  the  realization  of  its  superficiality. 
He  fumbled  vainly  for  his  identity  in  the  midst  of 
their  soft  deceits  and  unimagined  intention,  beyond 
his  ken,  but  unmistakable.  He  could  meet  their 
guests,  to  whom  he  was  not  even  conventionally  be 
holden,  on  a  level  as  man  to  man,  and  he  would  make 
no  concessions.  He  would  maintain  his  sense  of  his 
own  dignity. 

In  the  sensitiveness  and  self-consciousness  incident 

168 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

to  an  unaccustomed  and  in  a  degree  a  false  position, 
he  did  not  reflect  that  beyond  his  name  he  was  wholly 
unknown  to  the  party,  and  that  the  momentary  inter 
val  after  his  appearance  was  instinct  only  with  un 
certainty  and  a  preliminary  effort  to  "  place  him  "  in 
evolving  some  suitable  phrase  introductory  to  con 
versation  with  a  stranger.  He  interpreted  the  silence 
as  cool,  critical,  not  to  say  supercilious,  and  he  had 
no  mind  humbly  to  await  his  adjustment  to  such  place 
in  the  coterie  as  the  sense  of  the  meeting,  so  to  speak, 
might  consign  him.  He  walked  to  one  side  of  the 

O  O 

hearth,  and  stood  for  a  moment  as  if  in  contemplation 
of  the  group.  Then  singling  out  one,  a  man  of  mature 
years,  conventional  of  aspect,  with  a  long,  thin  face 
and  a  most  unenthusiastic  expression,  he  remarked, 
"  I  think  I  have  not  met  you  earlier." 

"And  what  of  that?"  was  in  the  countenance  of 
all  the  amazed  group,  as  Desmond  held  the  centre 
of  the  stage, — even  in  the  impassive,  wooden  coun 
tenance  of  the  gentleman  whom  he  had  addressed. 

"Mr.  Loring,  Mr.  Desmond."  The  youthful  Hern- 
don  was  no  reluctant  scholar;  as  he  often  remarked, 
when  he  had  had  a  thing  demonstrated  to  him  forty 
thousand  times,  he  had  learned  it.  He  had  now  mas 
tered  the  fact  that  the  tutor,  for  whatever  reason 
placed  in  the  position  of  Colonel  Kentopp's  guest,  was 
by  no  means  disposed  to  interpret  this  as  patronage, 
nor  to  capitulate  to  good-fellowship  on  anything  short 
of  the  full  honors  of  war.  "  Mr.  Loring  has  just  ar 
rived,"  Herndon  further  explained. 

As  they  shook  hands  Desmond's  next  remark  brought 

169 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

a  sudden  gleam  of  expression  into  the  wooden  grooves 
of  Mr.  Loring's  immobile  face.  "I  have  heard  you 
mentioned  at  Great  Oaks  Plantation/1  he  said,  recall 
ing  vaguely  Mrs.  Faurie's  account  of  the  dilatory 
methods  of  the  prospective  purchaser  of  Dryad-Dene. 

"Great  Oaks?  Are  you  visiting  at  Great  Oaks? 
Charming  old  place." 

"I  am  living  there.  I  am  the  tutor  of  the  Faurie 
boys." 

Mr.  Loring  could  not  control  the  surprise  in  his  face, 
for  this  princely  presence  was  not  to  his  mind  the  way 
the  tutor  of  unlicked  cubs  should  look.  It  was  no  in 
tentional  discourtesy,  for  he  said  with  more  animation 
than  an  article  so  apparently  manufactured  might  be 
expected  to  show :  "  Do  you  intend  to  make  teaching 
your  regular  profession?"  He  could  but  think  that 
there  must  be  something  unexplained.  This  was  some 
friend  of  the  Fauries,  perhaps  taking  a  pose  for  a 
freak;  there  was  some  lure  that  had  induced  a  pre 
tended  lodging  in  a  humble  position  at  Great  Oaks. 

"My  present  intention,  —  certainly." 

Nevertheless,  Mr.  Loring  did  not  for  one  moment 
relegate  this  imposing  personage  to  the  situation  of 
a  mere  pedagogic  drudge  for  small  boys,  because,  if 
it  were  true,  what  did  he  here  ?  The  Fauries,  with 
their  ancient  traditions  and  high  standards,  might 
annul  and  obliterate  all  worldly  differences  in  their 
intercourse  with  a  poor  gentleman,  refined  and  intel 
lectual,  but  never  the  recent  and  purse-proud  Ken- 
topps. 

And  here  suddenly  they  both  were,  overflowing 

170 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

with  cordial  greetings  and  exclamatory  apologies  and 
with  elaborate  rustlings  and  bows.  Colonel  Kentopp 
showed  such  a  glittering  expanse  of  white  shirt  front 
over  his  broad  bosom  that  the  sight  of  so  much  linen 
suggested  undress;  and  his  wife  showed  so  much 
collar-bone  and  sternum  independent  of  fabric  and 
almost  of  flesh  that  she  suggested  no  dress  at  all. 
She  wore,  however,  a  ruby-tinted  brocade,  and  a  fine 
pendant  of  rubies  and  diamonds  swung  from  a  deli 
cate  chain  about  her  throat.  Her  hair  had  a  deeper 
hue  of  blondine  than  usual,  and  she  wore  in  it  a  clus 
ter  of  ruby-tinted  ostrich  tips,  at  the  base  of  which 
a  very  large  diamond  scintillated. 

But  diamonds  were  all  at  a  discount  in  comparison 
with  those  that  glimmered  like  dewdrops  in  the  dark 
masses  of  Gertrude  Kelvin's  hair.  They  were  not 
many  nor  of  great  size,  but  they  were  set  artfully  to 
quiver  and  glitter  at  every  movement  of  her  head, 
and  the  midnight  of  her  hair  gave  them  a  stellular 
brilliancy.  She  was  attired  in  a  gown  of  delicate 
green  tissue  over  silk  of  the  same  shade,  and  the 
exquisite  whiteness  of  her  shoulders  and  arms  and 
face,  heightened  by  the  dainty  tint  of  the  dress, 
seemed  worth  some  deprivation  of  the  garish  light 
of  the  summer  sun  and  outdoor  joys. 

"Come,  Mr.  Desmond,  you  will  take  out  Miss 
Kelvin,"  said  Mrs.  Kentopp,  busied  in  arranging  her 
party.  Then  in  an  aside  to  Mr.  Loring  behind  her  fan 
of  ruby-tinted  ostrich  plumes :  "  He  was  just  dying 
with  suspense ! "  She  played  her  blue  eyes  at  him 
significantly,  and  Mr.  Loring  was  thus  given  to  under- 

171 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

stand  that  Mr.  Desmond's  lure  in  Deepwater  Bend 
was  Miss  Kelvin. 

"  But  how  old  man  Kelvin  will  cut  up  if  there  is 
really  no  money,"  he  thought  sagely. 

In  slow  and  stately  wise  they  filed  out  in  couples 
to  the  dining-room ;  and  even  if  the  predilections  of 
Mr.  Loring  were  already  engaged  by  the  traditions 
of  the  ancien  regime,  he  must  needs  have  admitted 
to  himself  that  the  entourage  at  Dryad-Dene  was 
most  attractive,  embellished  by  this  glittering  com 
pany,  which  set  off  the  house  in  its  gala  aspect  to 
the  greatest  advantage. 

The  dining-room  was  large,  and  its  appointments  be 
tokened  that  its  owners  gave  serious  heed  to  the  prob 
lems  and  the  pleasures  of  the  table.  "  My  house  was 
built  around  my  refrigerator,"  Mrs.  Kentopp  was  fond 
of  saying ;  and  Colonel  Kentopp  might  have  added, 
with  a  significance  not  altogether  literal,  that  his  house 
was  built  over  his  cellar.  For  the  Kentopps,  though 
not  sages  of  wisdom,  were  quite  indisposed  to  depend 
largely  upon  the  attractions  of  their  personality  and 
the  feast  of  reason  and  the  flow  of  soul  to  commend 
their  entertainments.  The  wines  were  choice  and  had 
been  long  in  bottle,  and  distance  and  inaccessibility 
worked  no  impairment  upon  the  menu.  All  the  deli 
cacies  of  the  season,  and  many  out  of  season,  graced 
the  successive  courses,  and  the  decorations  of  rare 
exotics  —  the  spring  flowers  were  left  to  bloom  in 
their  thousands  out-of-doors  —  had  indeed  scant  af 
finity  with  the  backwoods. 

"  These  are  from  our  own  hothouses,"  Mrs.  Ken- 

172 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

topp  was  saying,  in  reply  to  a  comment.  "  Yes,  — 
we  have  the  world  at  command  at  Dryad-Dene.  This 
is  the  newly  discovered  site  of  the  Garden  of  Eden, 
between  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  and  Bogue 
Humma-Echeto ;  they  used  to  be  called  the  Pishon 
and  the  Gihon  rivers,  you  know."  She  held  her  head 
down  and  looked  up  under  the  rims  of  her  eyelids 
to  emphasize  the  felicity  of  her  remark.  "  If  there 
is  any  little  item  that  we  have  n't  got,  the  Mississippi 
River  on  one  side  and  the  railroad  on  the  other  will 
bring  it  to  us." 

Mr.  Loring  sat  at  her  right  hand  and  was  subject 
to  all  her  beguilements.  Opposite  at  a  little  distance 
was  Desmond,  between  Miss  Kelvin  and  Miss  Allan- 
dyce,  with  Herndon  on  the  farther  side.  Desmond 
had  been  presented  to  the  Mayberry  and  Timlock 
contingent,  but  he  had  taken  only  a  vague  impres 
sion  of  pink  and  blue  draperies  and  blonde  hair  and 
roseate  smiles,  with  the  usual  complement  of  attend 
ant  cavaliers  ;  for  in  the  place  to  which  he  had  been 
assigned  he  was  absorbed  in  an  effort,  more  or  less  suc 
cessful,  to  explain  to  Miss  Allandyce  a  reason  for  not 
recognizing  her  that  should  be  something  less  blunt 
than  the  statement  that  her  riding-costume  had  quite 
disguised  her  at  their  earlier  meeting  in  the  afternoon. 

"  I  have  heard  that  the  cultivation  of  the  powers 
of  memory  is  considered  important  in  modern  educa 
tion,"  she  twitted  him.  "  I  should  think  your  peda 
gogical  laurels  would  wilt  after  this.  How  can  you 
urge  upon  Chub  Faurie  the  value  of  such  discipline 
of  the  faculty  of  —  of  - 

173 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  Observation,"  suggested  Miss  Kelvin,  on  his 
other  hand. 

"Yes, — observation  and  —  and  tabulation  of  traits 
as  to  enable  you  to  recognize  an  object  —  " 

"  In  the  landscape  —  "  prompted  Miss  Kelvin. 

"  Yes  —  in  the  landscape  —  an  object  with  a  red 
head,  after  the  lapse  of  an  interval  of  time,  —  an 
hour,  say  —  " 

"Arithmetically,  sixty  minutes,  to  be  exact,"  Miss 
Kelvin  urged  her  on. 

Desmond  had  no  sense  of  amusement  as  he  real 
ized  that  he  had  tabulated  her  equestrian  garb  in  his 
mind  and  would  never  forget  it.  The  predicament 
he  was  in  was  far  too  critical  for  that.  He  made  a 
gallant  struggle  for  a  diversion  of  interest.  "  I  saw 
no  object  with  a  red  head/'  he  stipulated.  "  I  should 
never  tabulate  it  as  red,  but  auburn." 

"  Then  you  would  be  most  discourteous ;  for  red 
heads  are  very  fashionable,  and  mine  is  treated  with 
chemicals  at  stated  intervals  to  make  it  seem  redder 
than  it  is,"  she  said  gravely,  assuming  an  air  of 
staid  and  offended  decorum. 

He  wondered  in  his  desperation  whether  it  would 
be  permissible  to  tell  her  frankly  that  she  was  not 
half  so  gentlemanly  in  her  gown  of  white  silk.  A 
necklace  of  seed  pearls  of  fantastic  device  hung 
about  her  delicate  white  neck.  Her  short  sleeves  had 
a  fall  of  lace  that  met  the  tops  of  her  long  white  kid 
gloves,  which  she  had  slipped  off  her  hands  without 
disturbing  the  upper  section,  tucking  the  fingers  be 
neath  her  bracelets.  She  wore  a  comb  of  seed  pearls 

174 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

in  her  auburn  hair,  and  she  looked  very  handsome. 
He  had  an  idea,  curious  enough  to  him,  that  she 
did  not  in  the  least  grasp  the  reason  of  his  failure 
to  recognize  her,  his  apparent  lapse  of  memory,  but 
that  Miss  Kelvin  had  divined  it  in  an  instant,  and 
had  a  mischievous  delight  in  his  plight.  Although 
Miss  Kelvin  would  not  have  alluded  to  the  riding- 
costume  her  friend  affected,  —  for  she  thought  it 
a  horrifying,  strong-minded  notion,  worthy  of  the 
woman  who  wants  to  vote,  who  engages  in  business, 
who  preaches,  who  practices  medicine  and  law,  and 
its  adoption  by  a  southerner  an  apostasy,  abominably 
uncharacteristic,  —  her  eyes  dwelt  upon  him  with  a 
luminous  mirth,  and  now  and  then,  as  she  caught 
his  glance,  she  burst  into  a  ripple  of  involuntary 
laughter. 

Her  recurrent  observation  of  him,  her  smiles  in 
response  to  his  glance  as  oysters  and  soup,  and  fish 
and  entree,  successively  filed  past  him,  almost  un 
touched,  were  remarked  by  Mr.  Loring,  and  these 
apparently  tender  passages  between  the  two  were 
interpreted  to  further  Mrs.  Kentopp's  plan  even  more 
than  she  had  anticipated.  She  had  expected  to  art 
fully  give  Mr.  Loring  such  an  idea  of  mutual  inter 
est  as  their  propinquity  might  suggest,  aided  by  some 
crafty  phrases  of  her  own.  But  she  had  not  dared 
to  hope  for  these  bright  glances  from  Gertrude,  for 
her  half -suppressed  delighted  laughter,  for  the  atti 
tude  of  the  girl,  leaning  half  across  Desmond  to  whis 
per  and  prompt  Miss  Allandyce  to  further  jocose 
upbraidings  of  the  mischance.  Gertrude  seemed,  in- 

175 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

deed,  throwing  herself  at  his  head ;  and  to  her  de 
monstration  he  ardently  responded,  now  and  again 
turning  to  take  her  counsel  in  a  low  voice  how  he 
might  best  plead  his  excuses,  often  misadvised  to  his 
detriment  and  setting  Selina  Allandyce  off  on  a  new 
score  of  rebukes  and  reproaches.  For  they  found 
the  tutor  great  fun.  After  the  first  shock  of  disap 
pointment,  they  resigned  themselves  with  a  good  grace 
to  his  impecunious  state  and  ineligibility.  He  was  too 
handsome  a  man  to  view  with  indifference,  and  too 
interesting,  for  his  manner  attracted  no  less  than  his 
presence.  There  was  something,  too,  below  the  surface 
of  his  talk,  and  while  they  did  not  discriminate  its 
quality,  they  were  aware  of  its  submergence  there. 

As  the  gay  chat  grew  in  interest  and  animation, 
Mrs.  Kentopp  in  her  elation  could  not  leave  the  as 
pect  of  the  trio  to  produce  its  own  impression;  she 
must  needs  give  it  a  nudge. 

"  Love's  young  dream,"  she  murmured  sentimen 
tally  to  Mr.  Loring,  her  head  held  down,  the  iris  of 
her  eyes  under  the  upper  lids.  "  ( There  's  nothing  half 
so  sweet  in  life/ ' 

Mr.  Loring  for  some  time  had  seemed  quite  atten 
tive  to  the  champagne  and  the  roast,  but  he  was  not 
altogether  absorbed. 

"  Not  so  young,  I  take  it,  as  far  as  the  gentleman 
is  concerned,"  he  replied  discerningly. 

"  Oh,  —  oh,"  —  Mrs.  Kentopp  could  hardly  con 
tradict  this  conclusion  fast  enough.  "Why,  he  is  just 
a  boy,  —  a  collegian,  —  graduated  last  June,  — just 
twenty-four." 

176 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

"  Rather  old  for  a  collegian,"  commented  Mr. 
Loring,  dryly. 

"  Took  a  very  elaborate  course,  all  sorts  of  elective 
extras  as  well  as  the  regular  curriculum.  Has  a  degree 
from  two  great  universities." 

"  One  is  more  than  enough,"  sneered  Mr.  Loring, 
who  had  matriculated  with  much  brilliancy  on  'Change. 

"  Oh,  yes,  —  he  is  a  mere  boy  ! "  Mrs.  Kentopp 
emphasized  her  insistence. 

"  He  looks  fully  thirty,"  said  Mr.  Loring,  wonder 
ing  why  olives  were  not  always  "pitted,"  —  otherwise 
it  seemed  more  decent  to  swallow  the  pits,  if  the  pos 
sibilities  of  appendicitis  did  not  hinder. 

u  Oh,  he  has  had  so  much  sorrow,"  —  and  Mrs. 
Kentopp  conjured  an  appealing  sadness  into  her  eyes 
and  shook  her  flaxen  head  as  she  bent  it  to  look 
down  in  token  of  sympathetic  woe. 

"  Has  n't  turned  his  hair  gray,"  said  Mr.  Loring. 
"  He  is  the  finest-looking  man  I  ever  saw." 

"  Oh,  do  you  think  so  ? "  asked  Mrs.  Kentopp, 
with  a  surprised  and  negative  tendency. 

"  Certainly ;  he  has  a  noble  head,  and  a  very  fine 
and  impressive  face.  They  must  be  long  on  looks  at 
Great  Oaks.  I  always  thought  Mrs.  Faurie  the  most 
beautiful  woman  in  the  world." 

"  '  The  most  beautiful  woman  in  the  world  ! '  "  — 
one  of  the  Mayberry  group  caught  the  words  and 
tossed  them  back.  "  I  know  just  whom  you  are  talking 
about." 

The  attention  became  concentrated.  Mrs.  Kentopp 
sought  to  divert  it.  "I  want  you  to  observe  the  mould 

177 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

of  the  sorbet/'  she  interrupted,  bespeaking  notice  for 
the  red  ices.  "  Somebody  said  that  this  looks  like  a 
melon  and  ought  not  to  be  striped  this  deep  red.  Do 
you  think  it  is  a  melon  ?  " 

"  Why,  no,"  said  Desmond.  "  It  is  a  pomegran 
ate." 

"  There,— what  did  I  tell  you  ?"  She  clapped  her 
hands  in  j  uvenile  glee,  as  she  spoke  across  the  length 
of  the  table  to  her  husband. 

"  The  first  time  I  ever  tasted  a  real  pomegranate  was 
down  at  Great  Oaks,"  said  Miss  Mayberry.  "  They 
have  them  in  their  old-fashioned  garden  yet.  You 
have  got  the  flavor,  too,"  she  added,  as  she  daintily 
tasted  the  ice. 

"  And  who  do  you  say  is  the  most  beautiful 
woman  in  the  world  ?  "  queried  Mr.  Loring,  his  inelas 
tic  countenance  reluctantly  crinkling  in  his  smile, 
sure  of  her  answer. 

"  Mrs.  Faurie,  of  course !  I  have  always  heard  her 
called  that,  and  everywhere  as  well  as  at  home.  I 
remember  when  we  were  at  Vevey  we  met  some  Ital 
ians, —  high-class  people  who  knew  the  Berkeleys, 
—  oh,  they  were  very  agreeable,  —  and  one  day  we 
were  talking  at  random  of  pictures  and  pose  and  ele 
ments  of  beauty,  and  one  of  the  gentlemen,  who  was 
quite  an  art  connoisseur,  said  that  he  believed  he  knew 
the  most  beautiful  woman  in  all  the  world.  He  had 
met  her  in  Chamouni,  doing  Mont  Blanc,  and  that  sort 
of  thing ;  and  when  he  said  that  she  lived  in  Paris, 
Madame  Honoria  Faurie,  we  all  screamed!  He  did  n't 
even  know  that  she  was  an  American." 

178 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  But  she  has  gone  off  a  good  deal  in  her  looks  of 
late/'  Mrs.  Kentopp  suggested. 

"  I  hoped  that  I  would  meet  her  here  to-night," 
said  Mr.  Loring,  without  even  ordinary  tact ;  every 
thing  connected  with  Great  Oaks,  the  embodiment  of 
his  ideal,  for  which  his  soul  sighed,  was  interesting  to 
him.  "Is  Mrs.  Faurie  not  well?"  He  fixed  his  eyes 
on  Desmond  and  asked  the  question  directly  across 
the  table. 

"  Oh,  yes,  —  quite  well,"  Desmond  replied,  a  trifle 
embarrassed. 

There  was  a  pause.  The  general  attention  was 
apparently  required  by  the  game  course,  which  was 
just  being  served.  The  inference  was  too  plain. 
Mrs.  Faurie,  it  seemed,  had  not  cared  to  honor  the 
diversion  at  Dryad-Dene  with  the  distinction  of  her 
presence.  For  who  could  imagine  Mrs.  Kentopp's 
purblind  folly  in  failing  to  invite  her ! 

The  tact  of  all  the  party  seemed  to  have  suffered 
a  collapse.  "  I  suppose  that  Mrs.  Faurie  has  gone  so 
much,  and  seen  so  much,  and  had  so  much,  that  she 
does  not  care  for  our  neighborhood  gatherings,"  said 
Gertrude  Kelvin  at  length. 

"  She  finds  Great  Oaks  as  dull  as  the  grave," 
snapped  Mrs.  Kentopp,  the  pendulous  tendency  of 
her  cheeks  reasserted  without  the  dimpling  breadth 
of  laughter.  "  Does  n't  she,  Mr.  Desmond  ?  " 

He  was  a  little  at  a  loss.  "  She  complains  of  its 
monotony,"  he  said. 

"  The  idea !  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Loring,  indignantly  ; 
"  one  of  the  finest  places  in  the  whole  Mississippi 

179 


THE  FAIR  Mi  SSISSIPPI AN 

River  country.  From  Memphis  to  the  Balize  you 
could  n't  find  its  superior.  To  my  mind  it  is  the  love 
liest  place  I  ever  saw.  I  wish  it  was  mine !  Monot 
ony  !  I  'd  like  to  own  that  kind  of  monotony." 

From  the  foot  of  the  table  Colonel  Kentopp,  in  all 
his  pose  of  geniality,  with  his  glass  of  Chambertin  in 
his  hand,  lowered  upon  Mrs.  Kentopp. 

The  woman  rallied  first  from  the  contretemps. 
"  The  land  I  know  is  fine  and  there  is  a  deal  of  it, 
and  the  outbuildings  are  good  and  stanch,  but  the 
old  mansion  is  a  rattle-trap,  —  so  out  of  repair, 
and  built  on  any  kind  of  an  old  plan.  It  has  no  style 
about  it,  no  modern  improvements  and  embellish 
ments  and  —  " 

"  It  simply  crystallizes  the  past,"  Mr.  Loring  de 
clared  solemnly.  "  It  is  an  epitome  of  the  old  South, 
—  its  comfort,  its  space,  its  disregard  of  ostenta 
tion  ;  its  broad  acres  about  it  can  keep  the  tally  of  its 
values;  it  takes  you  back  a  hundred  years;  it  has 
yesterday  in  every  line.  I  wish  it  was  mine !  " 

He  talked  on  and  on,  the  taciturn  man,  over  the 
salad  and  the  sweets,  the  theme  unvaried,  throughout 
the  service  of  the  dessert  with  the  notable  ancient 
Madeira,  till  at  last  his  voice  was  lost  in  a  silken  rustle. 
Mrs.  Kentopp  had  given  the  signal  for  rising,  and  the 
young  girls  were  presently  flitting  along  the  big  square 
hall,  still  visible  from  the  dining-room,  making  a  picture 
that  enhanced  the  charming  setting  which  should  have 
appealed  to  any  man  with  an  eye  for  beauty,  who 
did  not  cultivate  a  distorted  squint  backward  toward 
the  exploded  past  instead  of  the  sophisticated  present. 

180 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

The  ballroom  was  in  the  third  story,  —  another 
intimation  of  the  intensely  modern  spirit  of  Dryad- 
Dene.  There  was  all  out-of-doors  to  build  on,  and 
surely  there  was  scant  reason  to  economize  space  when 
the  value  of  land  was  contemplated  by  the  quarter 
section  instead  of  the  running  foot.  The  destined  use 
and  cost  of  building  materials  alone  might  limit  the 
size  of  any  structure  in  Deepwater  Bend.  But  though 
there  was  no  need  to  climb  stairs,  there  was  much 
that  was  picturesque  in  this  airy  ballroom,  and  it  was 
indeed  a  great  contrast  to  the  long,  low  wing  devoted 
to  the  same  purpose  at  Great  Oaks,  with  its  green 
shutters  closed,  the  spiders  weaving  in  the  corners, 
and  the  wide,  smooth  spaces  of  its  polished  flooring 
devoted  to  the  humble  purposes  of  miscellaneous 
storage;  for  there  was  not  a  dance  at  Great  Oaks 
mansion  in  all  the  quiet  years  while  Mrs.  Faurie  had 
been  the  admired  cynosure  in  palatial  assemblages  in 
many  foreign  capitals. 

Here  the  decorated  ceiling  had  a  fine  pitch,  and  all 
the  architectural  embellishments  of  the  house  below 
culminated  on  this  level ;  the  cupola  of  the  tower  gave 
a  circular  alcove  to  the  ballroom,  and  on  the  opposite 
side  the  French  windows  issued  upon  a  long,  flat  roof 
that,  furnished  with  a  balustrade,  offered  a  charming 
promenade  between  the  waltzes  for  the  young  people 
under  the  white,  palpitating  stars  and  in  close  famil 
iarity  with  the  gentle  night  wind.  It  offered  also  every 
opportunity  to  the  overheated  dancers  for  pneumonia 
and  influenza ;  but  as  they  gave  this  fact  no  heed, 
it  might  scarcely  be  considered  one  of  the  choice 

181 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

advantages  of  the  ballroom.  The  hothouses  had  sent 
hither  their  offering  of  palms  and  banana  trees  and 
ferns  for  a  tasteful  scheme  of  decoration,  and  an 
Italian  band,  brought  up  from  New  Orleans  for  the 
occasion,  tossed  lilting  melodies  from  behind  a  leafy 
screen.  The  stringed  vibrations  found  in  Desmond's 
heart  a  thrilling  response  of  poignant  memory,  reviv 
ing  in. contrast  with  the  present  all  the  happy  past, 
the  cherished  prospects,  the  vanished  faces,  the  hal 
lowed  home.  But  he  was  young,  and  his  pulses  >vere 
astir  with  vitality  and  vigor.  The  rhythm,  the  motion, 
the  sweet,  swinging  melody,  imparted  their  own  jubi 
lant  effects,  and  he  could  but  enjoy  with  his  muscles 
all  the  buoyancy  of  his  stalwart  young  frame,  while 
with  a  curious  duality  his  heart's  sorrows  were  unas- 
suaged  and  his  mental  indifference  and  aloofness  were 
no  self-deceit.  It  was  perhaps  the  mental  attitude  of 
many  a  reveler  in  joyous  scenes  that  awoke  no  sense 
of  mirth,  but  it  had  no  parallel  among  the  dancers 
at  Dryad-Dene.  The  young  ladies  were  all  a-weary 
of  the  dull  season  spent  at  the  abominated  planta 
tions  ;  it  was  too  late  for  New  Orleans,  being  mid- 
Lent,  indeed,  and  yet  too  early  for  the  White  Sulphur 
Springs  or  the  Gulf  coast. 

u  How  delicious  !  "  Gertrude  Kelvin  exclaimed.  "1 
should  have  thought  I  had  forgotten  how  to  '  two- 
step,'  —  I  have  scarcely  stood  on  my  feet  since  Mardi- 
Gras."  For  it  was  with  the  charming  white  rose  that 
Desmond  found  himself  chiefly  awhirl.  He  danced 
specially  well,  and  more  than  once,  as  the  music  re 
commenced,  she  looked  from  a  chatting  group  toward 

182 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

'0 

him,  with  so  bright  and  expectant  a  smile  that  he  was 
fain  to  ask  the  pleasure  once  more.  And  indeed  it 
was  no  great  constraint.  She  was  as  light,  as  airy,  as 
poetic  of  movement,  swinging  as  rhythmically  as  a 
blossom  on  a  bough,  with  as  little  suggestion  of  effort. 
Her  delicate  green  tissue  draperies  floated  diaphanous 
in  the  breeze  of  their  motion ;  her  white  arms  and 
neck  were  fairer  still  in  the  moony  gleams  of  the 
shades  of  the  gas-jets ;  her  ethereal  pallor  took  on 
no  unbecoming  flush  with  the  exertion ;  her  move 
ment  was  as  devoid  of  the  idea  of  fatigue  as  the  flit 
ting  of  a  butterfly  or  the  noiseless  winging  here  and 
there  of  one  of  the  white  moths  that,  allured  by  the 
lights,  came  in,  now  and  then,  from  out  of  the  night. 
The  sparkle  of  the  diamonds  in  her  hair  flashed  into 
his  eyes  occasionally  as  her  head  was  poised  so  close 
to  his  shoulder,  for  she  was  tall  despite  her  small 
and  feminine  ways,  and  they  made  a  pretty  couple 
to  look  at,  as  Mrs.  Kentopp  did  not  omit  to  point 
out  to  Mr.  Loring  when  at  length  he  came  into  the 
apartment. 

He  had  been  loitering  at  the  table  over  Kentopp's 
good  wine  and  fine  cigars  with  his  martyrized  host, 
although  the  younger  men  had  earlier  joined  the 
ladies,  who  had  had  coffee  in  the  drawing-rooms,  and 
together  they  had  trooped  up  to  the  ballroom  at  the 
first  long-drawn,  plangent  cadence  of  the  violins. 
Mrs.  Kentopp  had  a  freshened,  elated  mien  as  she 
surveyed  the  scene,  standing  in  the  ballroom  door 
beneath  the  vines  of  an  elaborate  hanging-basket, 
with  the  most  feathery  of  trailing  ferns,  and  plying 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

i 

her  fan  of  ruby  ostrich  plumes,  though  she  felt  the 
cool  breeze  from  the  widely  opened  windows. 

"  A  handsome  couple ;  that  will  be  a  match/*  she 
commented,  smiling  sentimentally. 

"  No  doubt,  —  no  doubt,"  replied  Mr.  Loring.  He 
smelled  very  strong  of  tobacco  :  when  the  cigars  were 
mild,  he  smoked  a  good  many  of  them.  He  was 
a  self-made  man,  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune, 
—  a  massive  structure  on  which  little  ornament 
had  been  bestowed.  He  was  apt  to  consider  market 
prices,  potential  bargains,  possible  rebates,  and  equiva 
lent  values,  even  in  social  affairs,  although  his 
interest  in  social  affairs  scarcely  seemed  actively  con 
cerned  with  an  adequate  return  for  the  outlay  at 
present.  He  was  bent  upon  enjoying  his  money,  but 
he  wanted  the  best  article  of  pleasure  that  the  market 
could  afford.  He  saw  an  opportunity  of  richly  re 
warding  himself  at  a  very  great  bargain  in  buying 
one  of  the  fine  old  estates  in  Deepwater  Bend  far  below 
its  value  in  the  shrunken  estimates  of  post-bellum 
ratings,  where  he  might  retire  to  enjoy  the  pose  of 
magnate  and  millionaire  within  a  few  miles  of  where 
he  had  been  born  of  poor  but  eminently  respectable 
parents.  His  father,  who  had  been  one  of  the  sub 
ordinate  clerks,  "  mud  clerk  "  it  was  called  in  those 
days,  on  a  steamboat,  had  secured  for  him  by  favor 
a  place  in  the  office  of  a  broker  in  New  Orleans,  and 
stood  amazed  by  the  portentous  growth  of  his  scion 
in  that  hotbed  of  speculation.  Loring  felt  always 
much  at  his  ease,  assumed  to  be  as  "good  as  any 
body,"  yet  he  was  very  definitely  aware  that  his  conse- 

184 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

quence  would  be  much  enhanced  in  the  neighborhood 
that  he  desired  to  dominate  by  the  possession  of  one 
of  the  fine  old  places,  at  whose  seigneurial  splendor  he 
had  once  gazed  as  at  fairyland,  without  a  thought  of 
entrance.  He  had  little  sympathy  with  poverty,  —  it 
was  never  romantic,  or  picturesque,  or  appealing  to 
him.  Wealth  had  been  his  ambition,  and  wealth  was 
now  his  admiration.  His  study  was  how  to  seem  not 
less  magnificently  endowed  than  he  really  was  with 
this  world's  goods.  He  was  a  bachelor,  and  could  not 
express  his  riches  in  the  splendor  of  a  wife's  equip 
ment.  He  could  not  afford  to  marry  when  he  would, 
and  since  he  had  been  able  to  consult  his  wishes,  he 
had  lost  the  impulse  toward  domesticity.  His  eyes 
roamed  over  the  charming  scene  of  the  decorated 

o 

room,  the  whirling  dancers,  the  dark  blue  night  look 
ing  in  with  a  myriad  stars  from  the  windows  of  bal 
cony  and  long,  railed  promenade,  with  no  fixity  of 
interest  and  no  undercurrent  of  sentiment. 

"  Yes,"  he  reiterated,  "  no  doubt  it  will  be  a  match. 
Naturally,  Mr.  Desmond  will  recoup  his  disasters  by 
marrying  money." 

For  Mrs.  Kentopp  had  effaced  the  dullness  of  his 
propinquity  at  table  by  talking  much  of  Desmond.  The 
matter  just  now  nearest  her  heart  was  her  scheme  to 
divert  Loring  from  the  theory  that  Mrs.  Faurie  might 
become  interested  in  the  tutor,  and  she  was  sure  that 
the  peculiar  quality  of  Desmond's  personality  would 
soon  set  such  a  rumor  afloat,  were  it  not  forestalled 
by  one  more  credible.  Mrs.  Kentopp  was  one  of  those 
women  whose  shallow  minds  are  reflected  in  their 

185 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

talk.  She  could  no  more  have  kept  a  secret  without  a 
word  to  play  about  it  than  she  could  have  emulated 
the  Spartan  boy  and  without  a  sign  held  the  gnaw 
ing  fox  beneath  her  cloak.  She  would  never  give 
such  an  intimation  of  her  plan  that  Loring  might 
discover  and  rush  in  upon  it;  but  she  needs  must 
chat  of  Desmond,  his  recent  history,  his  father's 
death,  the  ensuing  financial  disasters,  his  relinquished 
career,  the  incongruity  of  his  collegiate  record  with 
his  humble  position. 

"  Oh,  —  I  did  n't  give  you  the  idea  that  Mr.  Des 
mond  is  a  fortune-hunter,  did  I?  Why,  I  wouldn't 
have  you  think  that  for  the  world  !  " 

Mrs.  Kentopp  had  a  peculiar  aversion  to  the  char 
acter  of  a  fortune-hunter.  Asa  girl  she  had  been  rich 
in  her  own  right,  and  Colonel  Kentopp  had  not  es 
caped  the  suspicion  of  a  lively  perception  of  the  side 
on  which  his  bread  was  buttered. 

"  Why  not?  Are  we  not  all  fortune-hunters?  "  de 
manded  Mr.  Loring,  dryly.  "  What  else  do  we  hunt?" 

"But  not  in  that  sense  —  a  mercenary  marriage! 
Oh,  no  ! " 

Mr.  Loring  had  a  touch  of  perversity,  or  perhaps 
Mrs.  Kentopp,  with  her  arriere  pensee  concerning 
the  disinterestedness  of  her  own  marriage,  had  been 
heavy-handed  enough  to  permit  him  to  feel  rebuked. 
"  I  can't  look  on  Miss  Gertrude  Kelvin  as  such  a  hard 
ship,  —  even  if  she  would  tack  a  tidy  little  fortune  on 
to  a  wedding-ring,"  he  retorted,  his  wooden  counte 
nance  smiling  satirically. 

"  Gertie  ?  why,  she  is  adorable ! "  cried  Mrs.  Ken- 

186 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

topp,  seeking  in  a  frenzy  to  find  her  feet  in  this  slough 
of  misapprehension.  "  Any  man  would  be  too  lucky 
to  talk  about  to  win  her,  even  if  she  would  not  have 
a  cent ! " 

"  Just  my  opinion,"  said  Mr.  Loring,  as  if  he  had 
enforced  its  adoption.  "  But  if  Miss  Kelvin  has  not 
enough  money  for  our  gentleman,  perhaps  his  good 
looks,  and  his  great  learning,"  his  lip  curled  cynically, 
for  Mr.  Loring  was  very  short  on  the  classics,  "and  his 
collegiate  honors,  and  his  interesting  dumps  and  dou- 
leur  over  the  fling  that  Fate  has  given  him,  might  ap 
peal  to  Mrs.  Faurie,  —  she  will  give  up  that  nice  income 
some  day  for  a  life-interest  in  a  third  of  the  estate 
and  a  husband, — and  the  third  will  be  a  deal  more 
money  than  our  tutor  will  ever  see  otherwise." 

Mrs.  Ken  topp  suddenly  felt  a  cold  chill  stealing  up 
and  down  her  spine,  to  which  her  dress,  cut  low  and 
loose  in  the  neck,  left  her  liable.  But  it  was  not  the 
inclemency  of  the  wind  !  Her  heart  sank  at  this  delib 
erate  wording  of  the  fear  which  her  husband  had 
evolved  and  she  had  adopted.  If  this  idea  were  seri 
ously  entertained,  the  sale  of  Dryad-Dene  was  indeed 
a  distant  and  doubtful  prospect,  for  there  were  few 
investors  able  to  compass  a  purchase  of  such  magni 
tude,  and  fewer  still  with  a  disposition  toward  pro 
perty  of  this  character.  And  Dryad-Dene  was  not 
always  gay  like  this.  With  half  the  rooms  shut  up, 
and  the  gilt  and  brocade  furniture  in  hollands,  and 
the  visitors  few  and  far  between  and  always  the  same, 
and  no  excitement,  and  naught  to  do,  and  her  eyes 
forever  fixed  on  a  house  in  New  Orleans  in  the  win- 

187 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

ter  and  a  cottage  on  the  coast  in  summer,  —  oh, 
Dryad-Dene  was  but  a  dreary  imprisonment  indeed 
in  the  depths  of  the  backwoods!  The  crisis  was  so 
acute  that  it  imparted  to  Mrs.  Kentopp  a  touch  of 
dignity. 

"  You  forget,  Mr.  Loring,  how  very  distasteful  such 
a  suggestion  would  be  to  Mrs.  Faurie  were  she  to 
hear  of  it.  This  man  occupies  a  very  humble  position 
in  her  household, — a  paid  retainer,  —  not  exactly 
like  a  courier  - 

"  Why  no,  indeed,  —  I  should  say  not!  "  cried  Mr. 
Loring,  as  indignant  with  this  perversion  of  his  sug 
gestion  as  with  its  affront  to  the  dignity  of  the  tutor. 
"  He  is  a  gentleman,  of  fine  family,  and  a  learned 


man." 


"  So  /  said ;  but  he  is  a  paid  and  humble  attache 
of  her  household,  and  the  idea  that  she  could  unbend 
to  consider  such  a  person,  ten  years  her  junior,  —  " 

"  That  makes  nq  difference,"  interrupted  Mr. 
Loring,  who  took  this  schooling  rather  aversely. 

"  —  And  sacrifice  her  great  income  for  a  man  so 
egregiously  beneath  her, —  why,  the  suggestion  is 
belittling,  Mr.  Loring." 

"It  is  belittling  to  get  rid  of  money,  sure!  — 
and  she  may  hang  on  to  her  money  yet,"  Mr.  Loring 
conceded. 

"  Except  that  we  are  all  so  deadly  dull  down  here 
and  value  any  new  face,"  she  began  once  more. 

"Especially  such  a  handsome  one,"  Mr.  Loring 
stipulated,  with  a  knowing  grin. 

"Yes, —  and  a  dancing  man,  too." 

188 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

Mr.  Loring  did  not  dance.  At  the  period  when  he 
might  have  had  the  opportunity  to  learn  the  latest 
Terpsichorean  quirks  and  kicks,  he  was  absorbed  in 
the  saltatory  vagaries  of  the  stock  market  and  the 
fandangoes  of  cotton  futures. 

"  And  there  is  always  such  a  dearth  of  cavaliers 
that  we  have  admitted  him  among  us  as  one  of  our 
selves.  Otherwise  and  elsewhere,  as  you  know,  the 
tutor  would  be  in  his  place  in  the  schoolroom." 

"  Though  a  gentleman  and  a  learned  man ! "  sneered 
Loring. 

"  Yes,  —  and  I  hope  that  he  may  marry  Gertie 
Kelvin,  and  get  a  chair  in  some  good  college,  and  one 
day  be  the  president  of  it."  Mrs.  Kentopp  benevo 
lently  smiled. 

"  And  what  will  old  John  Kelvin  be  doing  all  that 
time  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Loring,  with  a  sidewise  twist  of  his 
mouth,  of  which  his  wooden  face  seemed  incapable. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Loring,  in  an  argument  you  always  van 
quish  me —  Why,  certainly,  Mr.  Herndon,  —  I  am 
dying  to  waltz." 

And  thus,  perhaps  because  she  had  the  only  blond- 
ined  coiffure  in  the  room,  was  considerably  rouged, 
and  floridly  attired  in  her  rich,  ruby-tinted  brocade, 
Fate  maliciously  decreed  that  she  should  dance  with 
Mr.  Herndon,  the  slightest  of  spindling  young  gentle 
men,  wan  of  face,  thin  of  flaxen  hair,  of  incipient 
involuntary  tonsure,  altogether  pallid  and  fragile  of 
effect  by  contrast  with  the  artificially  heightened 
charms  of  his  partner,  and  together  they  furnished 
the  aptest  illustration  of  "  before  and  after." 

189 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

Mr.  Loring  still  stood  in  the  doorway,  apparently 
casting  the  eye  of  appraisement  over  the  festive  scene. 
He  was  of  so  monetary  a  personality,  of  so  speculative 
a  reputation,  that  it  was  impossible  to  disassociate  his 
presence  with  a  deal.  It  had  a  certain  incongruity  and 
incompatibility  with  the  remainder  of  the  company, 
and  even  Mrs.  Kentopp,  who  had  not  the  most  deli 
cate  perceptions  of  tact,  was  vaguely  aware  of  this 
with  an  irritating  subconsciousness  as  she  whirled  and 
whirled.  She  had  hoped  that,  being  a  single  man,  Mr. 
Loring  would  be  at  once  assimilated  in  the  merry  party 
as  one  of  the  beaux,  and  while  she  could  count  with 
security  upon  his  conventional  acceptance,  on  the  foot 
ing  at  which  she  proposed  him,  by  the  well-bred  young 
people,  she  had  not  reckoned  upon  the  lack  of  malle 
ability  of  Mr.  Loring's  own  predilections  in  the  matter. 
He  was  not  one  of  them,  he  had  no  pulse  in  common, 
no  affinity  with  their  tastes,  no  social  ambitions  to 
which  their  warmth  of  reception  might  minister.  He 
made  no  pretense  of  being  a  young  man ;  he  claimed 
naught  of  the  courtesy  that  thus  reckons  one  scarcely 
yet  of  middle  age.  He  was  not  sensitive  on  the  point ; 
his  record  on  'Change  kept  the  tally  of  the  years,  and 
he  was  proud  of  the  events  as  they  totted  up.  His 
age  was  known  to  people  of  more  importance  in  his 
mind  than  these  inexperienced  girls  just  liberated 
from  the  schoolroom,  and  their  cavaliers  still  with  a 
lingering  dependence  on  the  paternal  purse-strings. 
He  had  no  response  for  the  graceful  coquetry  of  the 
young  ladies,  nor  for  the  jejune  opinions  of  the 
youths,  financially  mere  cumberers  of  the  ground,  for 

190 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

he  had  no  method  of  rating  other  than  financial.  He 
was  too  rich  a  man,  too  dominant,  too  self-centred 
and  consciously  important,  to  submit  himself  unneces- 
arily  to  boredom,  and  he  had  not  that  altruistic  impulse 
of  high  social  culture  that  would  constrain  him  to 
sacrifice  his  preference  for  the  sake  of  his  hostess. 
Hence  it  pleased  him  to  stand  in  isolation  in  the  door 
way,  under  the  feathery  fronds  of  the  drooping  ferns, 
and  stare  moodily,  absently,  silently,  at  the  revolving 
dance,  taking  no  part. 

He  was  never  intentionally  frank,  but  the  un- 
avowed  reason  of  his  presence  became  very  definitely 
outlined  as  the  evening  wore  on,  and  Mr.  Loring  asso 
ciated  with  every  appearance  of  satisfaction  with  him 
self.  Mrs.  Kentopp,  now  and  again,  fluttered  up  to 
him  and  made  a  great  show  of  talk,  aided  by  a  wav 
ing  fan  and  upturned  eyes,  and  he  had  then  the  grace 
to  respond ;  but  to  Colonel  Kentopp,  who  must  needs 
sometimes  take  her  place,  he  had  not  a  word  to  throw. 
Being  of  a  festive  temperament  and  relishing  the 
joyous  occasion,  the  host  was  obviously  a  martyr,  in 
the  long  intervals  when  he  felt  constrained  to  stand 
beside  the  wooden  figure  and  ply  him  with  artful 
talk,  so  constructed  as  to  need  no  response  other  than 
the  absent  grunt  or  nod  which  Loring  vouchsafed  in 
recognition  of  his  character  as  quasi-guest. 

" '  How  doth  the  little  busy  bee  improve  each  shin 
ing  hour/  "  quoted  Gertrude  Kelvin,  as  she  and  Des 
mond,  breathless  from  the  final  whirls  of  the  waltz, 
issued  into  the  tower  alcove  to  find  already  standing 
there,  enjoying  the  breezes  of  the  open  space,  Selina 

191 


THE  FAIR  M  ISSISSIPPI  AN 

Allandyce  and  Rupert  Regnan.  He  was  a  tall  fellow, 
with  an  outdoor  complexion  suffused  with  a  constant 
red  flush,  brightly  glancing  gray  eyes,  and  dark  hair. 
He  had  served  in  the  Spanish  War,  and  had  acquired, 
besides  the  title  of  lieutenant,  a  military  carriage 
which  would  be  his  proud  possession  for  all  time,  and 
which  added  a  certain  stiff  stateliness  to  his  appear 
ance  in  evening  dress.  His  father,  a  veteran  of  an 
other  war,  one  of  the  Unreconstructed  Rebels,  was 
wont  to  look  askance  at  him,  tabooed  his  title  at  home, 
and  had  informed  him  that  he  could  not  set  foot  on 
the  plantation  while  he  wore  a  blue  uniform.  But  the 
son  cheerfully  responded  that  he  had  shed  the  uni 
form  when  he  had  quitted  the  service,  and  that  the 
title  of  lieutenant  was  too  tight  a  fit  for  him,  —  he 
was  out  for  bigger  game !  He  had  developed  a  sense 
of  his  own  importance,  and  he  now  felt  it  jeopardized 
in  some  sort. 

"What  is  that  man  here  for,  do  you  suppose?" 
he  said  to  Miss  Allandyce.  The  coterie  was  quite 
confidential  in  the  restricted  space,  which,  with  the 
windows  all  open  between  the  pilasters  on  three 
sides,  seemed  to  poise  them  in  the  midst  of  the  cool, 
dark  night,  the  airy  roof  of  the  cupola  above. 

"  For  the  same  reason  that  you  are  here,  I  fancy, 
—  for  the  pleasure  and  honor  of  your  company,"  she 
responded,  looking  in  the  dim  light  very  sweetly  fem 
inine  in  her  white  silk  gown  and  her  pearl-crowned 
auburn  hair. 

"  But  there  is  n't  any  pleasure  in  his  company, 
I  should  judge  from  Colonel  Kentopp's  countenance, 

192 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

and  I  should  judge  from  his  own  that  he  is  n't  dis 
posed  to  confer  any  honor.  I  imagine  that  he  has 
come  to  look  at  the  house,  —  people  say  that  he  is 
going  to  buy  it." 

"  You  seem  to  object ;  are  you  a  prospective  pur 
chaser,  too?"  Miss  Kelvin  twitted  him  with  this 
incongruity  in  view  of  his  youth  and  financial  inex 
perience. 

"  I  do  object.  I  may  be  exacting,  but  it  strikes  me 
that  this  party  was  made  up  to  give  him  an  oppor 
tunity  to  see  Dryad-Dene  to  the  best  advantage.  I 
can't  imagine  what  else  he  is  doing  here.  He  scarcely 
makes  a  feint  toward  the  manner  of  a  guest." 

"And  you  object  to  dancing  for  a  purpose,  —  how 
wrong !  You  know  that  the  reproach  of  dancing  is 
that  it  is  at  best  but  an  idle  amusement.  You  ought 
to  be  glad  to  convert  it  to  some  use." 

"  I  object  to  being  made  use  of  without  reference 
to  my  feelings,"  he  protested,  as  he  wagged  a  some 
what  round  and  close-cropped  head  with  an  emphatic, 
not  to  say  affronted  air. 

"  And  are  you  not  willing  to  skip  and  leap  like  a 
young  lamb  to  make  Mr.  Loring  think  this  is  a  pretty 
house?" 

"  I  am  not !  The  pleasure  of  my  company  was  re 
quested,  and  I  came  to  compliment  my  hosts,  and  to 
enjoy  myself,  and  to  see  you  all,"  —  he  included  the 
whole  group  with  a  bow,  —  "  and  to  contribute  my 
little  possible  to  the  general  entertainment." 

"  And  you  are  frustrated ! "  Gertrude  Kelvin 
averred.  "  Now,  if  I  were  you,  I  'd  take  it  all  back ; 

193 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

I'd  cancel  my  services.  I'd  make  the  whole  thing 
ridiculous.  You  ought  to  go  right  out  there  in  the 
middle  of  the  ballroom  floor  and  throw  a  somersault ! 
Then  you  would  undo  all  that  you  have  done." 

"  Oh,  do  it,  Mr.  Regnan,  —  or  rather  undo  it ! " 
cried  Selina  Allandyce. 

He  laughed,  but  did  not  stir. 

"  He 's  afraid !  "  Gertrude  exclaimed.  "  You  know 
that  he  must  have  been  a  coward  in  the  Spanish  War, 
—  for  see  now,  he's  afraid." 

"  I  'm  sure  that  he  ran  at  the  battles,  —  I  'd  be 
willing  to  take  my  affidavit  to  it,"  Selina  goaded 
him. 

"  It 's  a  mere  pretense  that  he  got  a  presentation 
sword  after  the  war  —  for  he 's  afraid  !  "  said  Ger 
trude. 

"  He  could  n't  have  got  it  for  gallant  conduct,  for 
he's  afraid!" 

Regnan  looked  from  one  to  the  other,  but  only 
laughed. 

"  He  is  deceitful,  too,"  Gertrude  recommenced, 
"  and  he  encourages  deceit  in  others.  He  lets  Mr. 
Loring  accredit  Dryad-Dene  with  all  the  chic  and 
style  of  his  presence — " 

"And  all  the  grace  and  agility  of  his  waltzing," 
Selina  interrupted. 

"  And  all  the  bonhomie  and  sparkle  of  his  conver 
sation,"  Gertrude  added. 

"  Oh,  let  up  on  me;  I  '11  be  good  !  I  '11  be  good!" 
Regnan  pleaded ;  but  he  made  no  saltatory  intimations 
toward  the  required  somersault. 

194 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  And  all  the  distinction  of  his  military  record/' 
persisted  Gertrude. 

"  And  all  the  prestige  of  his  hereditary  position," 
Selina  supported  her  contention. 

"  And  when  Mr.  Loring  buys  this  house,  the  title- 
deeds  will  call  for  more  than  they  cover,  —  oh,  poor 
defrauded  Mr.  Loring !  " 

"  But  now,  seriously,  —  "  Regnan  began. 

"  Seriously,"  Gertrude  interrupted,  "  in  fair  deal 
ing  you  ought  to  throw  a  somersault  in  the  middle  of 
the  ballroom  floor,  in  order  that  its  lack  of  style  and 
its  grotesquerie  and  awkwardness,  if  you  can  make  it 
awkward,  may  condone  for  your  unwitting  alacrity  in 
palming  off  a  house,  entitled  to  none  of  your  signal 
attractions,  on  Mr.  Loring,  who  will  pay  a  bonus  for 
the  grace  your  presence  lends  to  it !  " 

"  But  now,  seriously,  —  does  n't  it  seem  to  you 
that  this  is  not  an  appropriate  time  to  show  off  the 
house  to  a  buyer  ?  "  Regnan  appealed  to  Desmond. 
"  I  may  be  exacting,  but  yet  —  " 

Desmond,  who  was  aware  that  he  himself  was  here 
for  a  purpose  he  could  not  fathom,  had  a  monition 
of  caution. 

"  Don't  ask  me ;  I  am  a  stranger  here,  and  —  " 

"  Hesitate  to  express  an  opinion,  of  course.  Well, 
—  we  are  all  old  friends,  and  but  that  it  might  seem 
a  disrespect  to  Mrs.  Kentopp's  feelings,  and  in  so  far 
uncivil,  I  should  be  willing  to  tax  her  with  it  myself." 

The  soft  rustling  of  the  treetops  below  in  the 
bosky,  benighted  "  dene  "  impinged  upon  the  talk ; 
the  freshening  breeze  coursed  through  the  tower,  at 

195 


THE  FAIR  M  ISSISSIPPI  AN 

this  height  inclosed  only  by  the  slight  pilasters  which 
upheld  the  conical  roof.  The  sense  of  altitude,  the 
vision  of  the  lonely,  starlit  sky,  and  the  dark,  far- 
stretching  wilderness  on  every  side  beyond  the 
plantation  clearings,  were  incongruous  with  the  ball 
room  scene  close  at  hand,  the  graceful  figures  prome 
nading  the  glossy  hard-wood  floor  with  its  mirror-like 
reflections.  More  akin  was  the  romantic,  languorous 
theme  of  the  waltz,  with  a  sort  of  melancholy  yearn 
ing  in  its  sentimental  iteration,  and  presently  a  high- 
heeled  white  satin  slipper  was  beginning  to  move 
unconsciously  in  rhythm  as  the  quartette  still  stood 
in  the  tower  together. 

"  If  your  scruples  against  adorning  the  premises 
of  Mr.  Loring' s  prospective  purchase  are  not  too  great 
a  restriction  on  this  waltz,"  Desmond  suggested  to 
Miss  Allandyce,  with  whom  he  had  not  danced  hitherto. 

"  Oh,  I  repudiate  the  responsibility,"  she  exclaimed. 
"  I  am  neither  the  bargainer  nor  the  bargainee,  and 
Mr.  Loring  is  popularly  supposed  to  be  able  to  take 
care  of  himself  financially." 

She  had  lifted  her  hand  to  Desmond's  arm  before 
they  issued  from  the  tower  alcove,  and  as  they  came 
waltzing  out  of  its  seclusion  together,  Mr.  Loring 
noted  the  change  of  partners.  "He  is  making  him 
self  generally  agreeable,  and  probably  has  no  special 
idea  of  Miss  Kelvin,"  he  commented  within  himself. 
"  There  is  no  money  in  his  line  of  business.  If  he 
marries  it,  of  course  he  will  marry  all  he  can.  He 
would  be  mighty  well  pleased  with  the  Faurie  third, 
—  which  maybe  Madame  Honoria's  dukes  and  princes 

196 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

would  n't  look  at  after  they  had  seen  her  flourishing 
around  on  the  income  of  so  much  more." 

Mrs.  Kentopp's  spirits  were  wilting ;  the  lassitude 
of  brain-fag  was  evident.  She  looked  her  thirty -eight 
years.  Her  cheeks  were  pendulous,  so  seldom  did 
the  distention  incident  to  the  redeeming  smile  visit 
them.  She  realized  she  had  taken  great  pains  to  a 
doubtful  end.  She  began  to  think  that  she  might 
have  better  commended  Dryad-Dene  without  the 
house-party.  She  could  have  managed  Mr.  Loring  to 
greater  advantage  without  its  distractions.  It  had 
not  made  the  excuse  and  occasion  to  get  him  here 
incidentally  without  obviously  putting  the  house  on 
parade.  He  assumed  none  of  the  pose  and  port  of 
a  guest.  He  seemed  to  consider  that  he  was  invited 
for  business  reasons  only,  and  this  doubtless  suited 
his  easy  interpretations  of  the  obligations  imposed 
by  hospitality  as  well.  And  why  else  should  he  have 
been  invited  ?  He  was  no  friend  of  the  Kentopps, 
and  he  had  no  desire  to  be  friend  of  their  friends. 
Why  should  they  ask  him  here,  save  to  show  him  the 
house  to  advantage?  and  to-morrow,  on  the  camp  hunt, 
he  would  have  every  opportunity  to  see  the  land. 
The  house  certainly  did  appear  to  great  advantage, 
but  Mr.  Loring  was  a  discreet  and  discerning  operator, 
—  he  could  easily  divest  it  of  such  attractions  as  were 
added  to  it  by  the  fascinations  of  Mr.  Regnan's  two- 
step  and  Miss  Kelvin's  sylphine  charms.  He  was 
appraising  the  woodwork,  the  quality  of  the  plate- 
glass,  the  hand-carving  on  the  newel-posts,  with  their 
long  shafts  holding  up  lily-like  sprays  of  gas-jets. 

197 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

He  condemned  what  he  had  learned  to  phrase  as 
precious  or  Brummagem,  and  he  regretted  that  it 
was  all  so  new,  so  glossy,  so  like  a  fine  hotel.  He 
was  ambitious  of  the  pose  of  grand  seigneur.  He 
had  now  as  much  money  as  any  one  of  the  Mississippi 
princelings  in  the  palmy  days  of  the  old  plantation 
times.  He  coveted  their  entourage ;  it  represented 
taste  to  him ;  wealth,  family,  culture,  all  the  majesty 
of  the  magnate,  as  he  rated  the  great  in  the  world. 
A  few  modern  conveniences  kept  as  carefully  as  might 
be  out  of  sight,  a  touch  of  modern  frugality,  —  "  I  'd 
never  throw  away  money  with  both  hands  like  those 
old  ducks,"  —  and  this  would  comprise  all  the  im 
provements  that  he  thought  would  befit  the  domicile 
of  eld.  Still  it  was  not  to  be  had,  and  he  addressed 
himself  to  contemplating  the  tower  balcony,  with 
the  white-draped  figures  hanging  on  the  balustrade, 
now  gazing  down  into  the  dark  shrubbery  of  the 
"  dene,"  where  the  fountain  splashed  rhythmically, 
and  now  chatting  with  the  cavaliers  while  the  group 
discussed  the  delectable  ices.  Mr.  Loring  partook  of 
his  selection  with  a  meditative  mien.  It  was  of  a 
mint  flavor  and  was  stiffly  laced  with  old  Bourbon, 
and  a  long,  fragrant  sprig  of  the  newly  budded  herb 
stood  in  the  midst  of  the  delicate  glass.  Very  perfect 
were  the  beautifully  served  refreshments,  with  acces 
sories  of  daintiest  device ;  but  he  knew  full  well  that 
he  would  not  have  command  of  Mrs.  Kentopp's  deft 
arrangements  here  if  the  house  were  his,  for  money 
itself  could  not  buy  good- will  to  equal  her  efforts  in 
the  interests  of  getting  Dryad-Dene  off  on  him.  "  Not 

198 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

even  here  will  the  larks  fall  all  roasted  into  one's 
mouth."  He  remembered  the  old  French  proverb 
with  a  sardonic  smile.  He  took  no  part  in  the  outcry 
of  protest  with  which,  after  one  more  entrancing 
waltz,  the  dancers  greeted  the  strains  of  "  Sleep  well, 
Sweet  Angel,"  wafted  out  from  the  leafy  screen  em 
bowering  the  Italian  orchestra,  with  which  the  dinner 
dance  was  obviously  brought  to  a  close. 

Regnan  followed  Mrs.  Kentopp  here  and  there, 
insisting  that  she  should  look  at  his  watch,  which  he 
had  drawn  from  an  inner  pocket,  and  which  marked 
but  ten  o'clock.  She  was  doubtful  for  one  moment; 
so  little  agreeable  had  she  found  the  evening  that 
she  would  not  have  been  surprised  to  know  that  it 
had  dragged  as  slowly  as  this  witness  maintained. 
Then  she  recognized  the  artifice. 

"  It  is  a  gay  deceiver,  —  just  like  you  ! "  she  cried. 
"But  if  you  did  but  know  at  what  unearthly  time 
you  will  have  to  rise,  you  would  have  been  off  to  bed 
long  ago.  I  expect  to  hear  that  old  swamper's  halloo 
under  the  windows  any  moment,  and  the  baying  of 
his  pack." 

And  so  presently,  reflected  in  the  polished  flooring, 
the  procession  wended  its  way  through  the  ballroom 
and  down  the  many  turns  of  the  elaborate  staircase, 
pausing  only  once,  at  the  first  entresol,  when  Mrs. 
Kentopp  called  the  attention  of  Mr.  Loring  to  the 
electric  button  in  the  wall  by  means  of  which  the 
gas-jets  in  the  upper  story  were  instantaneously 
extinguished,  and  the  ballroom  and  the  Mi-Careme 
dance  were  in  a  moment  in  the  darkness  of  the  past. 


CHAPTER  IX 

JLT  seemed  indeed  to  Desmond  that  his  head  had 
scarcely  touched  the  pillow  when  he  was  roused  by 
the  baying  of  hounds  from  the  stable-yard  at  the 
rear  of  the  house.  He  was  on  his  feet  in  a  moment, 
for  Mr.  Herndon  did  not  monopolize  the  virtue  of 
promptness  at  Dryad-Dene,  and  Desmond  was  zeal 
ously  heedful  that  his  distaste  to  the  occasion  and 
his  entertainers  should  induce  no  breach  of  observ 
ance  on  his  part.  He  was  half  dressed  when  the 
screech  of  the  speaking-tube  summoned  him  within 
the  sound  of  Colonel  Kentopp's  voice,  urgently  ask 
ing  if  he  were  awake,  then  with  equal  urgency  if 
he  were  risen,  —  which  demonstrated  that  Colonel 
Kentopp's  brain  was  not  very  completely  cleared  of 
the  vapors  of  slumber. 

Desmond  arrayed  himself  in  his  equestrian  togs, 
which  he  considered  the  most  appropriate  gear  at  his 
command,  and  finding  the  halls  alight  and  following 
the  sound  of  voices,  he  soon  made  his  way  to  the  din 
ing-room,  where  a  hasty  breakfast  was  going  forward. 

"Just  a  snack,"  Colonel  Kentopp  was  saying  to 
the  gentlemen  seated  at  the  table,  or  standing  at  the 
sideboard  helping  themselves  to  cold  mutton  or  ham 
as  they  would.  He  himself  seemed  to  be  breakfasting 
on  brandy,  and  he  went  around  the  table,  decanter 
in  hand,  administering  a  nip  here  and  there,  willy- 
nilly,  like  the  Squeers  treacle. 

200 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

"For  the  stomach's  sake,"  he  would  insist  to 
youths  whose  hearty  young  stomachs  could  with 
impunity  have  begun  the  day  with  ice-cold  butter 
milk.  There  was  hot  coffee,  but  no  hot  breads,  and 
therefore,  in  Mississippi  estimation,  no  breakfast. 
"  We  shall  have  a  hot  breakfast  ready  for  us  at  the 
camp.  We  just  want  a  snack  here  to  enable  us  to 
get  away.  Those  girls  will  be  wild  to  go,  and  they 
could  n't  keep  the  saddle  half  the  distance." 

"  Why,  Miss  Kelvin  rides  as  well  as  any  man," 
said  Rupert  Regnan,  displeased ;  "  and  Miss  Allan- 
dyce- 

"  Rides  just  like  a  man,"  Kentopp  finished,  with 
a  laugh.  "  The  truth  is,"  he  spoke  mysteriously,  "we 
expect  a  rough  day.  We  hope  to  get  up  a  bear,  and 
it  is  n't  safe  to  have  ladies  along  in  such  a  harum- 
scarum  expedition.  This  is  our  last  chance,  —  the 
game  laws,  you  know.  Monday  is  the  first  of  March !'" 

There  was  a  touch  of  the  preux  chevalier  about 
Regnan.  It  was  distasteful  to  him  to  sneak  off  and 
debar  the  young  ladies  of  the  pleasure  they  had  set 
their  hearts  upon.  If  there  had  been  any  means  of 
rousing  them  to  the  deceits  practiced  upon  them, 
other  than  inappropriately  appearing  at  their  bedroom 
doors,  he  would  have  availed  himself  of  it.  What 
cared  he  for  such  stereotyped  fun  as  was  comprised 
in  pulling  through  sloughs  and  cane-brakes  with  a 
lot  of  men  after  a  bear,  if  one  could  be  found !  They 
were  not  of  metropolitan  life;  the  wilderness  and  its 
incidents  were  an  every-day  story ;  they  were  veritable 
foresters,  as  much  old  "  residenters "  as  the  bear 

201 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

himself  !  Such  amusement  as  the  day  might  offer  lay, 
to  his  mind,  in  the  incongruity  of  feminine  society, 
and  the  enjoyment  at  second-hand  of  these  hackneyed 
details,  wonderful  and  new  to  the  young  girls'  expe 
rience.  He  would  fain  have  afforded  them  this  joy, 
which  they  childishly  craved. 

He  realized,  however,  that  it  was  not  his  place  to 
dictate,  and  presently  the  men  had  all  trooped  out  to 
a  small  room,  ambitiously  denominated  the  armory, 
and  were  busied  over  the  choice  of  weapons  and  sup 
ply  of  ammunition.  A  great  array  of  antique  blades, 
helmets,  shields,  more  or  less  genuine  or  suggestive 
of  the  junk-shops  of  New  Orleans,  hung  upon  the 
walls,  with  some  really  interesting  specimens  of  the 
blunderbusses  and  cutlasses  of  the  buccaneers  of  early 
times  on  the  Gulf  coast ;  of  bows  and  arrows,  beaded 
quivers,  scalp-knives,  tomahawks,  from  the  date  of  the 
Chickasaw  and  Choctaw  occupation  of  this  region ;  and 
of  the  flintlock  rifles,  powder-horns,  and  shot-pouches 
of  the  pioneer  days.  Two  or  three  of  the  party  had 
brought  their  own  guns,  but  others  had  depended 
on  a  chance  furnishing  forth  from  Kentopp's  ar 
mory.  The  modern  repeating  shotgun,  holding  in  its 
magazine  five  cartridges,  each  with  a  dozen  buckshot, 
permitting  the  discharge  of  sixty  balls  within  five 
seconds,  was  a  prime  favorite  with  the  sportsmen  in 
preference  to  the  staunch  old  double-barreled  breech 
loader  ;  only  those  who  boasted  special  accuracy  of 
aim  were  content  with  rifles;  Desmond,  not  very 
enthusiastic  in  pressing  forward,  found  his  choice 
limited  to  necessity. 

202 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  I  hope  that  you  are  a  good  shot,  Mr.  Desmond," 
said  Colonel  Kentopp,  with  polite  concern,  "  for  these 
fellows  have  left  nothing  but  two  rifles  for  us.  First- 
rate  make,  though  not  repeaters." 

Desmond's  outdoor  accomplishments  were  limited 
to  the  "  Gridiron."  He  fancied  the  swamp  game  des 
tined  to  be  long-lived  indeed,  if  they  were  to  die  from 
the  chances  of  a  single  rifle-ball  directed  by  his 
unaccustomed  aim.  For  he  was  no  sportsman.  He 
did  not  thirst  for  victory  over  the  sylvan  folk.  He 
accepted  the  rifle  as  graciously  as  if  he  were  a  dead 
shot  and  confident  of  his  powers,  secured  his  share 
of  the  appropriate  ammunition,  and  rejoined  the 
others,  who  had  already  repaired  to  the  stable-yard. 

It  was  an  animated  scene.  The  gas-jet  over  the 
stable-door  brought  it  out  in  high  lights  and  black 
shadows.  A  number  of  fresh,  restive  horses  had  been 
led  out  of  their  stalls  still  in  their  blankets ;  others 
were  bare  and  shivering  in  process  of  being  saddled. 

"  Will  you  ride  with  a  curb,  Desmond,  or  just  with 
a  snaffle  ?  "  asked  Kentopp,  as  he  bustled  about,  as 
busy  as  any  of  his  negro  grooms,  who,  with  shining 
eyes  and  glittering  teeth,  entered  into  all  the  spirit 
of  the  occasion.  The  dogs  were  literally  beside  them 
selves,  and  with  their  dark,  whisking  shadows  seemed 
twice  as  numerous  as  in  reality.  Now  they  leaped  in 
a  series  of  ecstatic  gambols  as  if  they  could  not  keep 
their  feet  to  the  ground,  and  again  they  manifested 
strange  proclivities  not  to  be  accounted  for  on  a  basis 
of  human  reasoning.  One  suddenly  planted  himself 
in  front  of  a  young  and  spirited  steed  and  treated 

203 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

him  to  a  succession  of  frenzied  hayings  and  elastic 
boundings  that  sent  the  horse,  restricted  to  a  limited 
space,  quite  wild  with  surprise  and  dismay,  —  now 
leaping  aside  with  the  hope  of  evading  his  queer  tor 
mentor,  and  now  rearing  and  threatening  to  bolt. 
Another  of  the  dogs,  with  a  yelp  so  shrill  that  it 
menaced  the  integrity  of  every  tympanum  within 
reach  of  the  sound,  urged  the  setting  forth  without 
more  delay,  scampering  around  among  the  hoofs  of 
the  horses  and  the  legs  of  the  men,  and  so  to  the 
gate  and  away!  —  looking  over  his  shoulder  pre 
sently,  seeing  that  he  was  not  followed,  and  returning 
to  repeat  the  demonstration,  calling  "  Come  on ! 
Come  on  !  Come  on  !  "  as  distinctly  as  if  he  had  the 
powers  of  human  speech. 

The  horses,  sniffing  the  morning  air  and  the  pro 
mise  of  adventure,  again  and  again  sent  forth  neighs 
shrill  and  clear  and  as  matutinal  of  effect  as  a  cock's 
crow;  there  was  a  great  stamping  and  champing; 
the  voices  of  the  stable-men  were  loud  with  calls  for 
gear  within  the  buildings,  and  admonitions  to  the 
horses,  and  adjurations  to  Mr.  Sloper  to  take  some 
order  with  his  pack. 

"  'Fore  Gawd,  them  scandalous  hound-dogs  don't 
show  no  more  manners  than  if  they  were  so  many 
rapscallion  childern,"  the  head  of  the  stable  averred. 

The  guests  discussed  bits  and  saddles  and  chose 
according  to  their  liking,  and  went  in  and  out  of  the 
harness-room  with  grooms  and  lanterns.  Often,  in 
the  midst  of  the  turmoil,  Colonel  Kentopp  looked  up 
with  apprehensive  forecast  at  the  house,  which  seemed 

204 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

with  its  three  stories  and  tower  very  tall  and  stately  in 
this  region  of  the  bungalow  preference,  expecting  to 
hear  a  sash  lifted  and  a  voice,  sweet  but  imperious, 
demand  a  stay  of  the  proceedings.  "  Wait  for  us ! 
Wait  for  us ! "  seemed  to  sound  in  his  ears,  until 
with  the  quick,  assured  tramp  of  a  body  of  horse,  a 
frenzied  crescendo  of  the  skirling  of  the  dogs,  a  wild 
jocose  "  Yah !  Yah ! "  of  the  stable-men  left  in  the 
deserted  yard,  the  hunters  were  mounted  and  gone. 

It  was  still  so  dark  that  Desmond  could  not  have 
kept  the  road  had  it  not  been  for  the  horsemen  on 
either  side,  and  the  voices  of  those  valiant  precursors, 
the  dogs,  some  of  whom,  however,  now  moderated 
their  transports  and  were  trotting  silently  forward. 
The  tones  of  their  owner,  or  entertainer  it  might 
seem,  so  honored  were  they  in  his  domicile,  came 
from  the  van,  where  he  rode  abreast  with  Colonel 
Kentopp,  who  had  ceased  his  attentions  to  Mr.  Loring 
to  ply  old  Sloper  with  his  courtesies.  He  really  felt 
under  special  obligations  to  the  old  swamper  for  the 
loan  of  his  pack  of  hounds,  though,  as  in  the  case 
of  many  other  politic  people,  his  gratitude  included 
a  lively  sense  of  favors  yet  to  come.  It  was  the 
opportunity  for  a  day  of  sport  preeminently  appro 
priate  to  the  region,  which  without  Sloper' s  coop 
eration  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  offer  to  the 
house-party.  Hence  Colonel  Kentopp  had  put  up 
Mr.  Sloper  on  the  best  horse  in  his  stable,  well  know 
ing  that  the  old  swamper  would  be  keen  to  discern 
and  quick  to  resent  any  invidious  distinction  in  the 
matter.  Mr.  Loring  rode  only  the  second  best,  a  point 

205 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

which  doubtless  ministered  to  the  swamper's  satisfac 
tion  and  jealous  sense  of  his  own  consequence.  There 
fore  in  fine  fettle  he  led  the  cavalcade,  continuously 
talking,  his  high-pitched  voice,  with  its  frequent 
breaks  into  a  snuffling  chuckle  of  falsetto  laughter, 
coming  back  on  the  keen,  dank,  matutinal  air  with 
great  distinctness. 

He  was  definitely  of  the  class  known  as  the  "poor 
whites "  of  that  region,  and  his  company  was  not 
acceptable  to  Mr.  Loring.  The  man  who  rises  in  the 
world  is  not  tolerant  of  lower  conditions.  It  is  only 
the  acknowledged  aristocrat  who  can  really  unbend. 
Eloper's  estate  in  life  did  not  duplicate  or  approximate 
Loring's  origin,  which  was  in  all  essentials  distinctly 
genteel, — in  the  fact  of  educated  parents,  in  refine 
ment  of  early  association,  in  point  of  social  connec 
tion  ;  for  although  his  immediate  family  were  of  small 
means,  he  was  related  to  well-to-do  people  of  good 
middle-class  standing.  Sloper,  however,  distinctly  ex 
pressed  the  "  common  folks  "  of  that  region  as  con 
trasted  with  the  baronial  planter,  and  as  Loring  had 
no  affiliations  with  the  latter  class,  it  offended  him  to 
be  brought  into  familiar  juxtaposition  with  the  repre 
sentative  of  the  widely  different  lower  order. 

Colonel  Kentopp  could  suffer  no  reduction  of  per 
sonal  consequence  in  hobnobbing  as  man  to  man  with 
the  old  plebeian,  but  as  far  as  Loring  was  concerned, 
familiarity  might  seem  an  outcropping  of  quondam 
tastes  and  associations  and  similarity  of  station.  Hence 
he  said  naught  as  Colonel  Kentopp's  jovial  laughter 
rang  out  at  the  conclusion  of  one  of  Jerry  Sloper's 

206 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

stories  that  he  had  heard  a  score  of  times  heretofore. 
As  the  old  swamper's  high  falsetto  cackle  punctuated 
the  applausive  mirth  of  the  others,  one  might  have 
thought  that  he  was  himself  too  noisy  to  distinguish 
the  fact  that  Mr.  Loring  had  not  relaxed  his  risibles 
in  compliment  to  the  gifts  of  the  raconteur;  it  was 
still  too  dark  to  discriminate  facial  expressions,  and 
the  lantern,  which  one  of  the  colored  grooms  carried, 
was  too  far  ahead  to  afford  its  gleams.  There  is  not 
always  that  submission  in  the  minds  of  the  lowly  in 
estate  which  would  seem  an  appropriate  concomitant 
of  that  humble  condition. 

"Powerful  glad  to  see  you  here,  Mr.  Loring, — 
though  I  don't  rightly  see  you  yit,"  Sloper  remarked, 
holding  in  the  spirited  steed  on  which  he  was  mounted 
to  range  alongside  the  millionaire.  "We  feel  here  in 
the  Miss'ippi  bottom  that  you  jes'  nachully  b'long  to 
us.  Why,  I  knowed  yer  dad  way  back  in  the  fifties. 
Yes,  sir!  He  used  ter  run  the  river  in  them  days.  He 
was  mud  clerk  on  the  old  Cher'kee  Rose.  I  kep'  a 
wood-yard  up  yander  on  the  p'int,  an*  Gus  Loring  an' 
me  had  chummy  old  times  when  he  would  come  ashore 
to  medjure  the  wood.  That  was  before  he  married  — 
considerable  looking  up  his  match  was,  for  a  mud 
clerk,  ye  know!  Yer  mother  was  a  tidy  gal,  —  plump 
as  a  partridge,  —  and  I  used  to  set  up  ter  her  con 
siderable  myself.  He!  he!  he!  She  turned  me  off, 
though,  for  Gus  Loring!  An'  she  done  better,  though 
I  do  say  it  myself.  She  done  better  to  take  Gus  in 
stead  o'  mp.  She  had  a  leetle  chunk  o'  money,  an'  yer 
dad  quit  the  river  an'  bought  a  share  in  a  store  an' 

207 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

set  out  a-clerkin'.  But  Lawd!  I  reckon  ye  would  n't 
bat  yer  eye  for  no  such  stock  o'  goods  as  he  had. 
They  tell  me  as  ye  have  prospered  considerable  down 
yander  in  Orleans !  I  reckon  if  ye  was  ter  store-keep, 
like  yer  dad,  ye  could  show  forth  as  good  a  stock  as 
they  had  at  Whippoorwill  Landing,  —  that  would  ha* 
made  Gus  Loring  stare!  I  don't  mean  ye  could  own 
it  all — part  credit  o'  course!  But  I  reckon  from  all 
I  have  heard  tell  that  ye  could  get  a  note  in  bank,  — 
an'  that  is  mo'  'n  yer  dad  ever  could  do." 

Regnan  loved  his  fellow-man.  "For  God's  sake, 
pull  that  old  fox  off  the  Spartan's  vitals,"  he  said  in 
a  low  voice  to  Kentopp.  "  I  can't  abide  for  a  fellow 
to  be  gnawed  like  that." 

"Then,  curse  him,  —  why  can't  he  show  some 
sense!"  Kentopp  growled  sotto  voce  in  return. 
"Who  but  a  fool  would  try  to  top  old  Jerry  Sloper 
with  his  nil  admirari  millionaire  airs.  He  knows  what 
Loring  cut  his  teeth  on !  I  am  afraid  of  my  life  to 
say  a  word." 

Lieutenant  Regnan  had  missed  his  billet  as  the 
destroyer  of  life.  His  instincts  were  all  for  first  aid 
to  the  injured.  He  presently  began  melodiously  to 
hum.  and  suddenly  as  he  rode  in  the  clump  of  horse 
men  he  broke  forth :  "  Say,  Mr.  Sloper,  how  does  the 
tune  go  to  that  old  high-water  song :  — 

"  Step  light,  neighbor,  —  don't  jar  the  river  ! 
Rising,  rising,  brimful  and  over —  ' 

Forthwith  the  old  swamper  was  blissfully  chanting  as 
he  rode  at  the  head  of  the  cavalcade,  and  Mr.  Loring  had 
time  to  readjust  the  expression  of  his  face  and  to  con- 

208 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

ceal  the  ravages  of  the  onslaught  on  his  pride  before 
a  certain  pallid  influence  began  to  annul  the  dark 
ness.  A  sense  of  mist  was  in  the  atmosphere,  yet  great, 
towering  trees  were  visible,  and  far  along  apparently 
infinite  vistas,  level  and  devoid  of  woodland  debris  as 
a  royal  park,  some  vague  presence  shifted  continually, 
never  so  distinct,  so  definitely  embodied,  as  to  be  form 
ulated  to  the  vision,  and  at  last  realized  as  the  impal 
pable  medium  of  the  dawning  light.  Suddenly  day  was 
revealed  in  the  woods.  The  sun  was  up,  not  seeming 
to  rise  on  those  infinite  levels,  but  to  spring  at  once 
like  a  miracle  into  the  place  of  darkness.  It  filled  the 
world  with  the  amplitudes  of  a  glorious  golden  glow, 
so  fresh,  so  elated,  yet  pervaded  with  a  sort  of  awe,  a 
splendid  solemnity.  Stillness  characterized  its  earlier 
moments,  but  presently,  in  the  chill  morning,  the 
spring  birds  were  singing  from  the  branches  of  the 
trees,  which  rustled  with  the  sudden  stir  of  the  wind. 
Through  the  vistas  to  the  west  the  great  Mississippi 
was  agleam  with  thousands  of  wavelets  tipped  with 
dazzling  scintillations,  and  the  rising  mist  that  veiled 
the  Arkansas  shore  shimmered  with  opalescent  reflec 
tions.  Beyond  the  limits  of  the  forest  one  could  see 
here  and  there  a  scattered  growth  of  cotton  wood 
trees  and  the  serpentine  line  of  the  levee,  its  great 
embankment  covered  to  the  summit  with  the  thick 
growth  of  Bermuda  grass,  the  interlacing  roots  of 
which  were  considered  of  much  avail  in  strengthening 
the  earthwork  to  resist  the  action  of  the  current  in 
times  of  high  water.  At  one  point,  where  the  river 
turned  in  its  corkscrew  convolutions,  the  horsemen 

209 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

could  see  that  the  encroaching  flood  had  crossed  the 
intervening  space  and  was  beginning  to  stand  against 
the  base  of  the  levee.  This  premonitory  symptom  of 
overflow  Mr.  Loring  was  prompt  to  notice. 

"  I  have  a  cross  levee  half  a  mile  back,"  Colonel 
Kentopp  said,  with  a  jaunty  air.  "  I  don't  think  we 
will  go  under,  even  if  that  stretch  of  levee  should 
give.  And  if  we  do,"  still  more  jauntily,  "  crawfish 
and  river  detritus  are  fine  fertilizers." 

"  Best  crops  ever  made  in  Deepwater  Bend  was 
after  the  biggest  water  I  ever  see,"  interrupted  Jerry 
Sloper,  exceedingly  glib.  "  Levees  broke  in  March, 
and  water  stood  sixty  miles  wide.  Plantations  were 
under  till  mighty  nigh  May.  River  was  not  in  its  banks 
till  nigh  May.  Then  the  crop  was  planted  and  —  " 

"  I  have  heard  my  grandfather  tell  about  that," 
interposed  Regnan.  "  The  fields  were  so  thick  with 
cotton  that  they  laughed  and  sang,  —  and  the  plant 
ers  laughed  and  sang,  too." 

"  Still,  I  'd  rather  Dryad-Dene  should  keep  dry 
feet,"  said  Colonel  Kentopp,  turning  in  his  saddle 
to  look  over  his  shoulder  at  the  water  lapping  about 
the  verdant  spaces  at  the  base  of  the  levee.  Never 
theless,  he  felt  very  cheerful.  The  cavalcade  could 
hear  the  plantation  bell  at  Dryad-Dene  ring  forth  its 
strong,  mellow  acclaim,  calling  out  the  hired  force  to 
work,  as  well  as  the  tenant  farmers,  who  were  under 
the  same  regimen.  The  broad  expanse  of  fields  was 
now  and  again  visible,  all  prepared  for  the  planting  of 
cotton,  —  as  carefully  laid  off  and  with  the  earth  as 
thoroughly  pulverized  as  if  for  a  flower-bed.  It  was 

210 


THE  FA IR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

impossible  for  the  heart  of  a  proprietor  of  so  fine  a 
plantation  not  to  swell  at  the  sight,  and  while  away 
from  Annetta  and  her  eager  fostering  of  their  mutual 
ambitions  toward  metropolitan  life,  Kentopp  felt  a 
sort  of  independence  of  the  millionaire's  doubtful 
attitude.  Let  the  event  fall  out  as  it  would,  he  had 
here  a  mighty  good  thing. 

In  the  midst  of  these  more  vital  and  manly  in 
terests,  Loring's  phlegm  and  pose  of  indifference 
could  but  give  way.  He  knew  the  country  and  its 
possibilities  thoroughly,  and  now  and  again  he  made 
searching  inquiries  into  local  conditions,  which  showed 
that  his  mind  was  genuinely  occupied  with  the  propo 
sition,  and  caused  Colonel  Kentopp  to  think  that  he 
did  not  half  care  to  sell  at  all.  Repeatedly  the  rich 
ness  of  the  opportunity  was  demonstrated.  A  turn  in 
the  road  suddenly  gave  to  view  a  lovely  level  of  pas 
turage  inclosed  by  hedges  of  the  Cherokee  rose,  over 
whose  wide-spreading  evergreen  brambles  the  horse 
men  could  look  upon  a  green  plain,  dotted  with  trees 
of  gigantic  girth,  and  embellished  with  as  fine  a  flock 
of  sheep  as  ever  wore  wool.  Three  or  four  black  pick 
aninnies,  already  absorbed  in  a  game  of  mumble-the- 
peg,  and  several  collie  dogs  were  entered  upon  their 
guardian  duties  for  the  day,  and  Colonel  Kentopp 
was  descanting  upon  varieties  and  pedigrees,  weight 
of  shearings  and  flavor  of  mutton. 

"  We  raise  everything  at  Dryad-Dene,  as  a  model 
plantation  should.  The  world  is  within  the  bounds 
of  Dryad-Dene.  We  buy  nothing  but  gunpowder, 
salt,  iron,  and  sugar." 

211 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

This  was,  of  course,  the  ancient  brag  of  the  great 
river  principalities ;  but  the  immense  drove  of  hogs 
which  the  horsemen  passed  after  a  time,  crowding 
about  a  gate  where  swineherds  were  throwing  out  as 
breakfast  the  contents  of  a  wagon  loaded  with  corn 
over  the  high  fence  of  the  in  closure,  the  wide  ex 
panse  of  the  potato-fields,  harvested  long  ago,  their 
yield  garnered  into  the  potato-sheds  that  stretched 
along  on  one  side  like  the  roofs  of  a  little  street,  the 
saw-and-grist  mill,  the  cotton-press  and  steam-gin, 
with  the  obeliscal  smoke-stack  towering  above  the 
plain,  —  all  the  appurtenances  of  the  industry,  went 
far  to  confirm  the  boast. 

And  now  into  the  depths  of  the  wilderness,  prime 
val,  apparently  illimitable,  with  the  wind  footing  it 
featly  alongside.  There  were  clouds  in  the  densely 
blue  sky,  but  high,  white,  flocculent,  and  lightly 
floating.  The  odors  of  spring  vegetation,  of  early 
blooms,  came  on  every  breath ;  and  when  the  first  of 
the  sloughs  was  reached,  it  was  so  draped  in  lace- 
like  willows,  so  full  of  verdant  moss  and  ooze,  so 
still  and  dreamy  in  its  marshy  pools,  mirroring  the 
sky,  that  one  might  have  accounted  it  a  valued 
feature  of  the  landscape,  but  for  the  experience  of 
fording  it. 

"  We  can't  hunt  bear  in  a  parlor,"  Colonel  Ken- 
topp  declared,  as  he  forced  Ringdove  to  wet  her  dainty 
hoofs.  The  rest  were  soon  splashing  after,  unmindful 
of  mire  and  solicitous  only  of  quicksands.  But  on  the 
farther  side  they  were  on  dry  and  level  ground  once 
more,  cantering  alertly  amidst  the  great  forest  trees, 

212 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

the  horses  scarcely  breathed,  and  the  courage  of  the 
cavalcade  rising  to  the  summons  of  exertion.  And 
now,  —  deepest  shades,  great  overhanging,  swamp- 
like  growths !  The  dense  cypress,  festooned  by  the 
gray  Spanish  moss,  rose  towering  out  of  ink-black 
water ;  a  white  heron,  standing  motionless  beside  a 
clump  of  the  protuberances  known  as  "  cypress-knees," 
looked  as  if  it  might  have  been  sketched  into  the 
scene  with  a  bit  of  chalk ;  logs,  moss-covered  and 
dripping  with  slime,  lay  half  buried  in  the  ooze ;  the 
canopy  of  foliage  was  so  thick,  the  boughs  of  the  trees 
so  densely  interlacing,  that  the  light  of  the  brilliant 
day  was  cut  off  and  the  hunters  rode  as  if  in  a 
dream-shadow.  Lakes  presently  opened  alongside, 
series  of  glassy  stretches,  blue  under  the  azure  sky, 
and  connected  by  a  bayou  so  dully  flowing  that,  gaze 
as  one  might,  the  motion  of  a  current  could  not 
be  discerned.  Once  wild  ducks  were  glimpsed,  and 
though  old  Jerry  Sloper  protested,  he  could  not 
hinder  the  prompt  discharge  of  one  of  the  shotguns. 
On  the  crash  of  the  report  ensued  the  whizzing  of 
wings  in  the  flurry  of  terrified  flight,  and  two  of  the 
birds  floated  dead  upon  the  water.  A  handsome  set 
ter  sprang  into  the  lake,  and  presently  swam  out 
with  his  feathered  trophy  ;  while  the  dogs  of  different 
breeds  wheezed  uneasily  about  the  margin,  and  one 
of  them,  a  famous  bear  hound  of  a  singular  bluish 
tint,  his  hide  about  his  jaws  hanging  in  loose  folds, 
sat  down  and  contemplated  the  feat  with  head  askew, 
as  much  as  to  say,  "  Now,  how  did  you  find  out  how 
to  do  that?" 

213 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

Jerry  Sloper  was  beside  himself  with  indignation. 
"  Now,  you  fellers  air  goin'  to  spile  the  chances  fur 
the  whole  day !  How  fur  d'  ye  think  this  here  piece 
o'  water  '11  carry  the  crack  o'  that  thar  gun  ?  Old  Pa 
Bear  will  hide  in  the  cane-brake  an*  old  Ma  Bear  will 
gather  the  children  up  in  the  hollow  tree,  an'  they 
won't  ventur'  out  'fore  June.  An'  then  the  manners 
of  my  dogs !  I  been  tryin'  ter  get  it  out  o'  that  thar 
Lightfoot's  fool  head  that  he  is  expected  to  go  arter 
what  I  shoot.  /  don't  kill  fowels  with  a  gun."  His  lip 
curled  with  scorn,  showing  his  long,  tobacco-stained 
teeth.  "  I  go  ter  my  hen-cup  an*  chop  off  thar  heads 
with  a  hatchet.  I  am  a  man,  I  am  !  An'  when  I  play, 
I  take  my  sport  like  a  man.  I  shoot  deer  an'  bear 
an'  wolves  an'  sech  animals.  The  last  time  I  killed 
a  bear,  't  was  by  accident.  I  bed  nobody  with  me  but 
Lightfoot,  thar.  An'  the  crittur,  —  durn  his  little  old 
cranky  soul !  — he  p'inted.  Came  to  a  stand,  with  his 
forefoot  crooked,  —  jes'  so  "  —  and  Jerry  Sloper 
crooked  his  great  hairy  paw  in  clumsy  imitation  of 
Lightfoot's  graceful  instinct  —  "else  I  wouldn't 
have  seen  old  Bruin.  I  'lowed  a'  fust 't  war  jes'  a 
hawg  over  in  the  brake.  An'  all  of  a  suddenty,  lo  an' 
behold,  't  was  revealed  to  me  that  thar  was  a  bear ! 
An'  I  fired, — an'  o'  course  he  fell.  An*  off  skittered 
Lightfoot  ter  bring  him  in,  mind  ye !  Thar  I  was 
hollerin'  arter  the  child,  thrown  to  the  wild  beast, —  I 
war  n't  able  to  stir  hand  or  foot,  —  I  was  jes'  palsied 
with  skeer.  Lightfoot  tuk  him  gently  by  the  ear,  — 
not  to  spile  him  with  gnawing, — jes'  like  he  done 
that  duck  —  Gimme  that  thar  f owel,  you  distracted 

214 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

beast !  "  and  the  setter,  with  half-squatting  hind-legs 
and  wriggles  of  delight  and  pride,  and  lifted,  liquid, 
•hilling  eyes,  relinquished  the  game  into  his  hand. 
"  An'  what  happened  ?  The  bear  war  n't  plumb  dead  ! 
And  Lightfoot  come  back  tore  mighty  nigh  ter  the 
breastbone.  See  them  scars  on  his  chist?  An'  ez  soon 
as  he  was  able  to  stand  it,  I  gin  him  a  beatin'  besides 
ter  teach  him  better.  An*  now, —  ye  have  set  him  at 
his  old  tricks  ag'in.  I  .would  n't  own  a  dog  with  sech 
a  mania,  if  he  war  n't  a  present  ter  me.  An'  till  ye 
fellers  tuk  to  triflin'  with  him,  I  'lowed  I  'd  got  him 
plumb  sensible.  You  see  that  duck?"  —  he  looked 
down  sternly  at  his  accomplished  retainer,  who,  dis 
cerning  the  change  of  tone,  began  to  cringe  miser 
ably,  thoroughly  crestfallen.  "Oh,  ho!  ain't  forgot 
what  I  told  you,  eh  ?  Well,  then, —  want  some  mo' 
slipper  pie  ?  " 

Oh,  he  did  not!  He  did  not,  indeed,  —  his  plead 
ing  countenance  protested.  But  the  threat  was  a  mere 
feint ;  and  as  the  old  swamper  turned  to  take  up  the 
route  once  more,  the  setter,  with  a  shrill  yelp  of  delight 
to  get  off  from  the  colloquy  with  no  painful  sequence, 
dashed  ahead,  and  was  presently  trotting  nimbly  with 
his  companions  of  various  families  and  traditions, 
the  only  bird  dog,  and  the  only  one  whose  record 
comprised  the  heady  effort  to  retrieve  a  bear. 

"  I  'd  buy  that  setter,  Mr.  Sloper,  if  you  'd  put  a 
price  on  him,"  said  Regnan,  who  sometimes  descended 
to  the  trifling  sport  of  bird  hunting. 

"  An'  Pd  buy  the  State  of  Miss'ippi,  if 't  was  layin' 
around  loose,"  was  the  not  too  encouraging  response. 

215 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

Sloughs,  lagoons,  bayous  unnumbered !  The  horses 
were  soon  mired  to  their  girths ;  the  men  were  splashed 
from  head  to  foot,  and  those  inexpert  at  swimming  a 
horse  when  suddenly  out  of  his  depth,  had  their  high 
riding-boots  full  of  water.  More  than  once  an  alligator 
was  viewed,  half  embedded  in  the  ooze,  only  distin 
guished  from  the  rotting  log  that  he  resembled  when 
he  would  rouse  himself  to  swim  slowly  a  few  yards, 
tempting  the  knights  of  the  magazine  shot-guns. 

"  Don't  ye  know  that  a  bullet  from  a  forward 
shot  will  glance  off  as  if  he  wore  chain  armor !  "  old 
Sloper  remonstrated.  "  The  only  chance  is  a  rifle-ball 
behind  the  eye." 

"  And  when  did  you  become  acquainted  with  chain 
armor?  "  asked  one  of  the  Mayberry  youths,  in  merry 
wonderment  and  with  a  twinkling  eye. 

"  About  twenty-five  years  before  you  was  bawn," 
retorted  the  old  swamper.  He  paused  to  spit  forth  an 
enormous  volley  of  tobacco- juice  against  the  trunk  of 
a  tree,  with  a  seeming  solicitude  for  the  accuracy  of  his 
aim  ;  then  resumed  with  the  greatest  deliberation. 

"  I  holped  in  a  jewel  that  was  fought  by  two  tre- 
menjious  swells,  who  got  themselves  landed  by  the 
Great  Republic  for  that  purpose.  They  tuk  up  an 
insult  to  each  other  while  on  the  boat.  They  came  up 
to  my  wood-yard  —  I  used  ter  furnish  fuel  ter  the 
packets  reg'lar.  They  said  all  they  wanted  was  a  man 
ter  see  fair  play  an'  shut  his  mouth.  They  plastered 
mine  good  an'  tight  with  a  double  eagle.  One  of  the  par 
ties  was  tremenjious  brash  an'  overbearin' ;  I  could  see 
that  the  other  looked  into  death's  eye-sockets  at  close 

216 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

quarters.  I  medjured  the  ground  for  them  with  the 
Flying  Cloud's  wood-staff  that  the  mud  clerk  had  left 
at  the  yard,  —  miserable,  unshifty,  keerless  cuss  !  Bet 
he  needed  it  himself  before  he  got  ter  New  Orleans ! 
An'  these  two  dandy  fellers  tuk  thar  stand  an'  fired. 
An'  the  one  that  was  so  cocksure  missed  his  aim, 
though  his  hair-trigger  was  as  fine  a  weepon  as  ever 
I  see.  An'  the  t'other,  that  thought  he  had  come  to 
his  las'  minit,  shot  straight.  But  he  aimed  at  the  man's 
mouth,  as  it  'peared  to  me.  He  threw  up  his  pistol  at 
the  last  second.  The  ball  tuk  the  gentleman  right 
through  the  throat.  Ought  to  have  seen  the  blood 
spurt  out  'n  his  jugular !  Mighty  nasty  way  to  kill  a 
gentleman,  I  thought !  An'  as  we  both  run  to  the  body 
on  the  ground,  one  on  either  side,  the  winner's  hand 
shook  so  he  could  hardly  undo  the  vest.  So  I  laid  back 
the  fine  linen  shirt,  though  I  knew  it  was  no  use  to 
feel  his  heart,  for  he  was  as  dead  as  a  buckeye;  I  seen 
between  it  an'  his  silk  underwear  a  shirt  of  fine  steel 
rings.  'T  would  turn  a  bullet ;  't  would  break  a  knife ! 
An'  the  s'vivor  says,  —  his  chin  shook  so  that  he  could 
hardly  talk,  — l  What  do  you  think  of  that?  I  s'pi- 
cioned  from  the  fust  that  he  would  give  me  no  fair 
chance  in  a  fight,  an'  he  forced  it  upon  me.'  An'  I 
say,  '  Let 's  put  this  murderer  in  the  bayou.  Thar 's 
some  fierce  catfish  thar,  an'  snakes,  an'  slimy  beasts 
to  eat  the  flesh  from  his  bones.  The  mud  is  deep  an' 
will  hold  him  down,  an'  the  mire  is  fit  for  his  last 
home !  The  Miss'ippi  is  too  tricky  to  trust,  —  floats 
things,  ye  know.  The  bayou  for  me,  every  time ! ' 
"Why,  Mr.  Sloper,"  cried  young  Mayberry,  sud- 

217 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

denly  grave  and  aghast.  "  I  should  think  that  you 
would  have  been  afraid." 

"  Well,  he  ain't  never  got  up  from  thar,  —  so  fur 
as  I  have  heard  tell.  What 's  to  be  afeard  of?  " 

"  Was  that  all  you  did?  To  bury  him  in  the  bayou?" 

"  Naw,  sir ;  I  went  down  to  Natchez  an'  spreed  away 
the  double  eagle,  the  twenty  dollars." 

"But  I  mean  about  notifying  the  authorities?" 

The  old  swamper's  face  had  a  bewildered  look. 
"  Whar  was  they?  What  call  had  they  ter  meddle? 
I  done  nothin'  but  the  heftin'." 

"  Did  n't  the  Great  Republic  say  anything  the  next 
time  she  passed  ?  " 

"Oh,  yes!  I  told  the  mud  clerk  that  the  price  of 
wood  had  riz,  an'  he  told  me  to  go  to  hell.  That 's 
the  last  word  with  the  Great  Republic." 

Suddenly  a  sound  smote  the  sylvan  silence.  A  keen 
note  of  query,  a  wide  blare  of  discovery,  —  and  all  the 
pack  opened  on  the  scent,  baying  as  rhythmically  as 
if  trained  to  this  woodland  music.  The  horn  rang  out 
its  elated,  spirited  tones,  the  sound  leaping  like  a  live 
thing  along  the  far  reaches  of  the  levels.  The  horse 
men,  in  a  frenzy  of  excitement,  were  separating,  each 
taking  his  own  course  and  riding  as  if  the  rout  of 
some  swift  pursuit  were  upon  his  track.  Desmond 
hesitated  for  a  moment,  bewildered,  the  only  stranger 
to  the  wilderness  of  all  the  party,  forgotten  utterly 
by  his  host,  by  old  Sloper,  by  the  huntsman  on  ahead 
with  the  dogs,  by  the  youthful  sportsmen.  Presently, 
however,  Regnan  bethought  himself  of  the  tutor  and 
his  imminent  danger  of  being  lost  in  the  fastnesses, 

218 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

and  paused  after  an  instant  of  frantic  plunging 
through  a  narrow  bogue  that  issued  from  a  swamp 
where  there  was  promise  indeed  of  scant  solid  ground. 
"  Come  with  me/'  he  called.  "  I  am  going  to  try  an 
old  stand  on  a  deer  path  I  know.  The  hounds  have 
got  up  a  buck  —  I  think  so  from  the  tongue  they  are 
giving.  Follow  me.  Swim  your  horse  when  he  begins 
to  flounder  in  the  bayous." 


CHAPTER  X 

JL  HERE  was  no  choice.  Desmond  had  scant  interest 
in  this  tumultuous  sport  of  coursing  deer  with  hounds, 
but  he  was  fain  to  follow.  He  could  not  have  re 
traced  his  way  for  his  life,  and  to  be  lost  in  the  wil 
derness —  for  every  horseman  had  disappeared  — 
was  taking  all  the  jeopardy  of  disaster  and  even  of 
death.  He  congratulated  himself  that  the  excellent 
brute  he  bestrode  seemed  to  know  more  about  the 
matter  than  he.  Suddenly  Regnan,  who  had  been  for 
a  few  minutes  lost  to  him,  appeared  in  glimpses 
through  the  redundant  vegetation  about  the  lagoon, 
which  could  be  characterized  as  neither  water  nor 
land,  consisting  now  of  one  and  now  of  the  other, 
and  again  of  a  treacherous  combination  of  both,  that 
afforded  neither  footing  nor  the  medium  for  swim 
ming.  The  young  sportsman  was  thrashing  through 
brake  and  slough  at  a  breakneck  speed  that  presently 
carried  him  out  of  the  reach  of  vision. 

The  glimpse  was  sufficient  for  the  powerful  red 
roan  that  Desmond  rode,  and  he  needed  no  prompt 
ing.  He  sprang  instantly  into  the  water  in  the  essay 
to  follow,  swimming  with  great  spirit,  now  and  then 
stretching  his  legs  to  gain  a  firm  footing,  and,  with 
a  splashing  flounder  that  nearly  shook  Desmond  out 
of  the  saddle,  striking  out  again  to  swim  with  alert 
vigilance  and  stalwart  strength.  Desmond  was  used 
to  equestrian  exercise  in  milder  form  and  found  a 

220 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

need  for  all  the  principles  of  equitation  that  he  had 
been  taught,  for  the  most  progressive  of  mounts  can 
hardly  act  on  his  own  initiative  throughout  the  inci 
dents  of  such  a  drive  as  this  promised  to  be.  Desmond 
gave  the  horse  his  head  as  to  direction,  but  checked 
him  according  to  his  own  judgment  at  impassa 
ble  obstacles,  and  held  him  up  firmly  when  he  threat 
ened  to  go  to  his  knees.  A  little  later,  in  a  deep 
quagmire,  where  he  showed  signs  of  sinking,  and, 
losing  courage,  began  to  snort  in  fright,  Desmond 
used  bit  and  heel  to  such  effect  as  to  reinstate  his 
confidence  and  bring  him  leaping  lightly  out  of  his 
floundering  instabilities  to  good  dry  ground. 

When  the  wild,  disordered  turmoils  of  the  alluvial 
wilderness  gave  way  on  the  borders  of  a  fine  bit  of 
water,  Desmond  was  surprised  himself  to  note  how 
reassured  he  felt  to  perceive  Regnan  on  his  swimming 
horse  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  lakelet.  In  the  swift 
transit  he  had  scarcely  had  time  to  speculate  if  he 
were  on  the  right  track,  but  confirmation  was  wel 
come.  Regnan  had  evidently  felt  a  doubt,  for  he  was 
looking  over  his  shoulder ;  and  as  Desmond  and  the 
red  roan  galloped  down  to  the  margin,  the  horse 
sending  forth  a  gleeful  whinny  at  the  sight  of  his 
swimming  comrade  in  advance,  Regnan  waved  his 
hand  and  pressed  on  to  the  opposite  shore,  where 
the  dense  shadows  of  a  great  stretch  of  forest  gloomed. 
Here  there  was  good  going.  Desmond  pressed  his 
horse  to  added  speed  to  overhaul  his  precursor,  and 
side  by  side  they  galloped  at  their  utmost  capacity, 
with  scarcely  a  word  exchanged,  through  miles  of  level 

221 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

woods,  at  last  reaching  the  almost  impenetrable  den 
sities  of  a  cane-brake,  skirting  the  growth  rather  than 
striking  across  it ;  this  was  the  outpost  of  sluggish 
bayous  and  cypress  sloughs,  almost  impassable,  seem 
ing  impracticable,  till  suddenly  they  stood  on  a  fair 
sheet  of  water.  The  blue  sky  looked  down  suavely 
upon  it,  and  so  serene  it  was  that  one  might  have 
thought  the  wild  tangles  through  which  the  way 
hither  had  lain  were  some  vision  of  a  distraught  im 
agination.  All  around  the  dense  woods  were  silent, 
primeval.  Something  of  the  redundant  swamp  growths 
were  about  its  margin  and  cloaked  the  approach  to 
its  placid  waters,  but  beyond  stretched  the  endless 
forests. 

Regnan  was  dismounting.  "  It  is  too  wide  to  swim 
with  a  horse,"  he  said.  "  I  suppose  that  is  the  rea 
son  the  deer  take  to  it.  And  once  get  this  body  of 
water  between  them  and  the  dogs,  and  the  scent  is 
lost." 

He  was  hitching  his  horse  among  the  tangled 
growths  at  a  little  distance,  where  he  would  be  invisi 
ble,  and  cautioned  Desmond  to  follow  his  example. 

"  See  that  deer  path  ? "  he  said.  A  narrow  line 
threaded  the  luxuriant  marshy  grasses  about  the 
margin,  —  scarcely  a  path,  —  yet  a  keen  eye  might 
discern  the  imprint  of  a  cleft  hoof  in  the  moist 
ground  at  the  water's  edge.  "  I  have  shot  deer  here 
before,"  added  Regnan. 

With  the  butt  of  his  gun  he  beat  down  the  boughs 
of  evergreen  shrubs  to  afford  an  elastic  couch ;  and 
here  they  lay  them  down  and  rested  and  talked  spas- 

222 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

medically  and  dully  drowsed,  while  they  awaited  the 
sound  of  hound  and  horn. 

"  He  's  giving  them  a  good  run  for  the  money," 
opined  Regnan,  as  time  wore  on  and  brought  no 
change.  The  placid  lake  gleamed  serene;  the  dark 
forest  gloomed.  But  for  their  own  languid  voices  they 
heard  naught,  and  sometimes  long  pauses  intervened 
in  the  desultory  talk. 

"  Fond  of  this  sort  of  thing?"  asked  Regnan. 

Desmond  was  more  comfortable  since  he  had  taken 
off  his  high  riding-boots  and  poured  the  water  from 
them,  being  advised  by  Regnan  to  put  them  on  im 
mediately,  lest  they  so  stiffen  in  drying  that  their 
resumption  would  be  impossible.  The  amusement  did 
not  seem  so  disagreeable  to  Desmond  as  he  lay 
stretched  out  at  his  long  length,  his  soft  hat  over  his 
eyes,  and  his  gloves  also  dutifully  drying  into  shape 
on  his  hands.  He  was  able  to  answer  both  veraciously 
and  courteously. 

"I  am  not  used  to  it.  I  like  the  violent  exercise 
well  enough.  But  I  don't  want  to  kill  anything.  I 
am  glad  I  can't." 

"Why  can't  you?" 

"  Oh,  I  never  shot  at  anything  in  my  life  but  with 
a  handful  of  bird-shot." 

Regnan,  also  recumbent,  with  his  hat  over  his  eyes 
to  be  rid  of  the  combined  glare  of  lake  and  sky, 
lifted  himself  suddenly  to  look  about  him. 

"What  a  pity!  We  both  have  rifles!  Kentopp 
ought  to  have  giveri  you  a  shotgun.  I  wish  I  had  mine. 
I  don't  know  why  I  should  have  brought  this  thing." 

223 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

Then  he  lay  back  once  more  and  shaded  his  eyes. 
A  long  silence  ensued.  The  glare  on  the  lake  had 
dulled;  a  network  of  clouds  gathered  gradually,  the 
meshes  weaving  continually  until  dense,  dark,  imper 
vious  to  an}7  gleam,  it  hung  unbroken  above  the  lake. 
The  woods  had  fallen  into  deeper  gloom ;  only  the 
green  of  the  saw-grass  fringing  the  water-side  seemed 
lifted  into  an  in  tenser  chromatic  grade  by  the  lowering 
of  a  gray  sky.  When  a  sound  smote  the  mute  quietude 
of  the  woods,  it  was  a  muttering  of  thunder. 

"  Rain  !  We  are  going  to  have  it  in  plenty,"  sug 
gested  Regnan. 

"It  has  been  demonstrated  to-day  that  we  are 
neither  sugar  nor  salt." 

"  But  it  will  disperse  the  scent ;  the  hounds  will 
run  counter." 

"  Hallo  !  "  exclaimed  Desmond,  in  sudden  excite 
ment,  lifting  himself  on  his  elbow.  He  could  not 
have  said  why  it  should  thrill  him  ;  but  that  sound  of 
a  horn,  elastically  leaping  along  the  distance,  so  sig 
nally  clear,  so  searchingly  vibrant,  so  infinitely  sweet, 
sought  out  every  fibre  of  the  romantic  in  him.  Then 
rose  the  melody  of  the  dogs  in  full  cry,  rhythmic, 
mellow,  musical,  softened  by  the  distance,  significant, 
unceasing,  echoing  with  the  sentiment  of  the  sylvan 
chase  of  all  the  days  of  eld.  It  was  not  old  Sloper's 
"  house-party  "  that  Desmond  heard,  but  every  pack 
of  high  degree  that  ever  coursed  through  the  realms 
of  poesy  or  the  liberties  of  tradition.  He  was  on  his 
feet, — a  light  in  his  eyes,  a  flush  on  his  cheek,  his 
hands  trembling,  his  muscles  alert. 

224 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  They  are  coming  this  way !  They  are  heading  for 
the  lake ! "  he  exclaimed. 

Regnan  listened  for  a  moment.  "  Right  you  are ! " 
he  cried. 

As  they  took  up  their  position  at  the  stand,  am 
bushed  beside  the  deer  path,  Regnan  insistently 
waived  precedence. 

"  You  fire  first.  You  are  company !  If  you  miss, 
I'll  fire.  Buck  ague?"  he  whispered. 

The  undulating  sound  of  the  cry  of  the  hounds, 
emitted  rhythmically  with  each  bound,  came  ever 
nearer  and  nearer,  and  suddenly  there  was  close  at 
hand  a  crashing  through  the  bushes  down  the  deer 
path.  Desmond  threw  up  his  rifle,  conscious  that  he 
must  catch  the  aim  as  quick  as  light.  To  his  own  sur 
prise  he  was  singularly  cool  and  steady.  A  flash,  the 
sharp  report  rang  out;  something  clouded  white  and 
brown  and  gray  leaped  high  into  the  air,  issuing  from 
the  brush,  and  fell  dead  at  the  water's  edge,  —  a 
gigantic  wildcat. 

"  A  crack  shot  you  are ! "  Regnan  exclaimed, 
amazed.  The  ball  had  taken  the  creature  just  be 
neath  the  ear  and  pierced  the  brain.  "And  this  cat 
is  the  finest  ever ! " 

He  bent  over  the  magnificent  specimen.  "I  did  n't 
know  such  a  fellow  as  this  was  left  in  the  country. 
But  oh,  how  old  Sloper  will  swear !  " 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  Desmond,  the  excitement  cooling 
only  gradually. 

"  His  hounds  are  to  run  only  deer  and  bear,  no 
matter  what 's  the  purpose  of  their  creation  and  pre- 
225 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

vious  education.  He  lets  them  chase  a  fox,  now  and 
then,  with  a  great  palaver  of  explanation,  and  keep 
ing  right  up  with  them.  But  a  cat!  He  '11  be  worth 
hearing ! " 

When  the  pack  came  presently,  swiftly  loping 
through  the  brake,  and  beheld  their  prey,  it  was  dif 
ficult  indeed  to  reduce  them  to  order ;  and  as  old 
Sloper  raged,  and  fumed,  and  indignantly  rebuked 
them,  their  air  suggested  contradiction  as  they 
whisked  about  their  prostrate  foe,  their  gait  as  if  they 
could  not  keep  feet  to  ground — lifting  them  as  if  it 
were  hot  —  in  the  flutter  and  excitement,  and  they 
noisily  yelped  with  delight  every  time  he  spoke  to 
them.  It  would  seem  that  the  subtle  current  of  com 
prehension,  the  medium  of  communication,  was 
broken.  They  so  valiantly  protested  that  they  had 
done  a  fine  thing,  and  piqued  themselves  so  pride- 
fully  on  their  prowess,  that  he  was  fain  to  end  the 
discussion  in  his  own  interest  in  the  prey. 

"  Git  out  'n  my  way,  or  I  '11  punch  the  nose  off  'n 
ye,"  he  roughly  adjured  them,  as  he  dismounted  to 
lay  out  at  length  the  savage  beast,  in  order  to  take 
its  measure  from  its  muzzle  to  the  tip  of  the  tail. 
"  Thar  !  I  've  stepped  on  your  foot,  and  I  'm  glad  of 
it !  "  as  a  piercing  squeak  split  the  ears  of  the  party. 
But  the  sufferer  was  game  and  hopped  joyously  about 
on  three  legs,  participating  in  the  event,  despite  his 
plaintive  disabilities. 

"What  you  goin'  to  do  with  this  here  cat,  Mr. 
Desmond?"  he  asked,  an  added  respect  for  so  fine 
a  shot  unmistakable  in  every  line  of  his  face  and 

226 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

every  inflection  of  his  voice.  "Better  git  it  off  the 
ground  —  the  dogs  mought  tear  it;  they  air  so  durned 
sassy  over  it,  I  can't  govern  'em  none.  And  't  is  the 
finest  thing  I  ever  see.  My !  how  handsome  that 
fur  is ! " 

"  Why,"  exclaimed  Desmond,  suddenly  roused  'to 
the  possibilities  of  his  possession,"!  '11  have  it  stuffed 
and  present  it  to  Mrs.  Kentopp  as  an  ornament  to 
the  armory  and  a  memento  of  the  occasion."  He  had 
not  eaten  much  of  her  bread,  but  he  distrusted  the 
motive  of  her  hospitality,  and  his  pride  welcomed  the 
opportunity  to  make  a  requital  so  promptly  and  in 
a  guise  which  he  knew  would  be  so  acceptable.  He 
began  to  take  an  interest  in  the  exceptional  beauty 
of  the  specimen. 

"  Then  it  ought  to  be  skun  right  now,  before  the 
critter  stiffens.  An'  I  '11  do  it  fur  ye  and  send  the 
pelt  to  ye." 

Down  old  Sloper  went  on  his  hands  and  knees  to 
the  work  con  amore,  his  sharp  hunting-knife  gingerly 
tracing  the  lines  where  the  cuticle  and  fur  could  be 
separated  with  least  injury  to  the  appearance  of  the 
integument.  It  was  a  long  job  and  a  careful  one,  but 
none  of  the  other  sportsmen  had  put  in  an  appear 
ance  when  it  was  finished.  He  straightened  up  and 
looked  about  him  doubtfully. 

"  They  all  lost  out  somehows,"  he  said.  "  Mighty 
rough  ridin'  in  them  slashes.  I  reckon  they  've  all 
rid  off  to  camp,  mightily  interested  in  that  thar  bar 
becued  shoat  fur  dinner." 

The  mention  elicited  a  responsive  interest  and  a 
227 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

desire  to  minimize  the  distance  between  the  hunters 
and  this  dainty,  time-honored  of  the  alfresco  feast. 
The  hounds,  old  Sloper,  and  the  huntsman  set  out 
by  way  of  the  deer  path,  as  they  had  come. 

"  I  '11  try  a  short  cut,"  suggested  Regnan,  "if  you 
don't  mind  a  bit  more  wading  and  swimming." 

Desmond  protested  his  indifference  to  a  renewal 
of  their  amphibious  experience,  and,  mounting  their 
horses,  the  two  rode  off  through  the  saw-grass,  which 
fringed  the  borders  of  the  lake.  Suddenly  the  slate- 
tinted  clouds,  darkening  and  still  sinking  lower,  were 
cleft  by  a  vivid  forked  flash;  the  thunder  crashed 
with  an  appalling  clangor ;  the  horses  were  snorting 
in  fright  and  plunging  wildly,  and  the  floodgates 
were  unloosed.  The  rain  descended  in  sheets ;  there 
was  not  a  breath  of  wind,  and  the  torrents  fell  verti 
cally.  It  seemed  for  a  time  as  if  they  were  menaced 
by  a  cloud-burst.  The  quantity  of  water  liberated  was 
incalculable.  The  swamp  which  they  now  threaded 
was  inundated  so  swiftly  that  Regnan  more  than 
once  paused  and  looked  back  as  if  he  canvassed  the 
possibility  of  retracing  their  way  to  the  solid  earth 
they  had  quitted.  But  the  rainfall  was  no  translu 
cent  medium.  He  could  distinguish  naught  beyond 
its  opaque  curtain.  In  serried  lines  in  undiscrimi 
nated  myriads  the  torrents  fell,  yet  seemed  always 
stationary.  It  hardly  mattered  which  course  they 
adopted,  for  each  was  soaked  to  the  very  bones.  On 
and  on  they  plodded,  the  horses  dully  drudging  in 
the  progress,  making  special  exertion  when  they 
needs  must,  but  obviously  showing  that  they  were  of 

228 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

opinion  the  fun  was  at  an  end,  and  that  there  could 
be  too  much  of  a  good  thing.  Like  human  beings, 
they  found  a  vastly  different  animus  in  going  forth 
full  of  expectation  and  coming  back  exhausted  with 
the  day's  run.  They  held  down  their  heads  in  meek 
endurance  as  the  rain  beat  upon  them,  and  when 
they  stumbled  in  the  shifty,  marshy  soil,  there  was 
great  danger  both  to  the  animal  and  his  rider  in  the 
lack  of  that  alertness  of  muscle  to  recover  a  footing 
or  bound  with  his  burdened  saddle  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  quagmire.  Once  or  twice  this  recovery  was  so 
precarious,  so  clumsy  a  floundering,  and  sinking  was 
so  imminent,  that  both  horsemen  were  alarmed  and 
prescient  of  disaster. 

"  We  have  done  this  thing  once  too  often,  I  am 
afraid,"  said  Regnan. 

Desmond,  too,  had  been  looking  over  his  shoulder, 
though  not  in  the  forlorn  hope  that  they  might  be 
able  to  see  the  point  from  which  they  had  started, 
for  they  had  pressed  the  horses  forward,  against  their 
will,  with  such  energy  that  they  had  made  it  as  im 
possible  to  retrace  their  way  as  to  reach  satisfactory 
footing  in  going  on.  Some  inputting  point  of  land 
in  the  irregular  outline  of  the  swamp,  or  one  of  the 
ridges  of  higher  ground  whereon  switch  cane  grew 
luxuriantly,  and  which  here  and  there  traversed  it, 
might  yet  afford  them  rescue,  but  if  he  could  have 
discovered  such  opportunity  in  ordinary  weather,  the 
tumultuous,  blinding  downpour  rendered  it  invisible 
now. 

"  There  is  nothing  for  it  but  to  go  on,"  he  said  in 
229 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

a  depressed  cadence,  for  his  heart  had  a  sensation  of 
sinking.  He  was  growing  desperate.  The  rain  had  in 
its  midst  great  shifting  clouds  of  thin  vapor.  Now 
it  so  inclosed  them  that  they  lost  sight  of  each  other. 
Yet  when  they  called  out  in  alarm,  fearful  of  the 
disaster  of  unwittingly  parting  company,  the  chan 
ging  mist  gave  a  vision  of  the  head  of  the  other 
horse  close  at  hand,  though  a  moment  earlier  it  could 
not  be  discerned. 

Suddenly  as  Desmond  shifted  his  position  in  the 
saddle,  looking  straight  over  his  horse's  ears,  he  gave 
a  start  and  an  abrupt  exclamation,  staring  as  if  he 
doubted  his  senses ;  for  before  him,  in  the  pallid,  hov 
ering  mists,  half  revealed  and  half  concealed  by  the 
immaterial  investitures  of  the  curtaining  rain  and  the 
cloaking  cloud,  like  the  travesty  of  a  ship  under  full 
sail  which  tantalizes  the  desperate  hope  of  wrecked 
or  castaway  mariners,  he  beheld  as  if  suspended  in 
the  air  between  heaven  and  earth  the  outline  of  a  river 
craft,  a  boat  of  some  humble  sort,  a  refuge. 

"  Look,  Regnan,  what  is  that  in  the  sky  ?  "  he  ex 
claimed  hastily. 

Regnan  lifted  his  head  and  put  up  his  hand  to  hold 
away  the  flapping  brim  of  his  drenched  hat.  His 
voice  suddenly  rang  out  with  a  thrill  of  good  cheer : 
"  In  the  sky  ?  Why,  it 's  in  the  bayou,  thank  God  !  " 

"  It  is  a  flatboat  ?  "  Desmond  hesitated. 

"A  flatboatit  is!" 

Regnan's  face  had  not  regained  its  florid  tint ;  the 
chill  of  the  fog  and  the  rain,  that  had  not  left  a  dry 
thread  on  his  body,  and  the  effluvia  of  the  swamp,  pen- 

230 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

etrating  his  lungs,  had  turned  his  lips  blue.  But  he 
laughed  out  gayly,  although  as  his  lineaments  moved 
he  swallowed  the  rills  of  rain  that  ran  down  his  face. 
"  It  is  rescue,  my  boy  !  That 's  what  it  is  !  The  boat 
is  half  a  mile  off,  and  we  can  just  about  make  it." 

"  Half  a  mile !  A  flatboat !  "  Even  yet  Desmond 
was  hardly  convinced  that  it  was  not  a  delusion. 
"  What  makes  it  so  high  !  " 

"  What  makes  us  so  low !  "  laughed  Regnan.  "  Be 
cause  we  are  away  down  in  the  swamp,  and  the  flat- 
boat  is  away  up  in  the  bayou." 

"I  should  think  the  bayou  would  overflow  and 
convert  this  swamp  into  a  lake." 

"  And  so  it  would  but  for  the  conformation  of  its 
banks.  And  so  it  will  if  this  cloud-burst  keeps  on  a 
bit  longer  and  swells  the  waters  of  the  bayou." 

They  shifted  their  direction  and  pushed  on  with  a 
good  heart,  despite  the  difficulties  that  increased  at 
every  step ;  and  though  the  horses,  with  their  bent 
heads  and  drenched  coats  and  drudging  plod,  had  not 
seen  the  craft  so  high  above  their  own  level,  now  in 
deed  obliterated  from  all  view  by  the  encircling  cloud, 
they  obviously  felt  the  recruited  hopes  and  energy  of 
their  riders.  The  revived  spirits  of  the  men  were 
subtly  imparted  to  the  steeds,  and  the  improved  pro 
gress  caused  the  distance  to  seem  less  than  Regnan's 
estimate  when  again  the  cloud  lifted  so  much  as 
to  disclose  the  mirage-like  craft,  now  lower  on  the 
limited  horizon  by  reason  of  the  nearer  approach. 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,  Desmond,"  said  Regnan, 
—  the  two  had  become  chummy,  despite  the  tutor's 

231 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

sensitive  reserve  and  repellent  dignity,  for  there  was 
no  justification  in  holding  Regnan  at  arm's  length, 
—  "I  thought  our  hour  had  come.  I  thought  we 
were  destined  to  leave  our  bones  in  the  bayou  with 
the  caitiff  of  the  shirt  of  mail." 

Desmond  shuddered.  "  Oh,  give  me  better  com 
pany  ! "  he  cried.  "  Death  is  a  leveler,  but  it  can  never 
lay  me  so  low  as  that." 

Now  and  then  each  looked  up  from  beneath  his  sod 
den  hat-brim  to  discern  if  their  approach  had  been 
noticed  from  the  craft,  but  as  yet  she  gave  no  sign  of 
observation.  There  was  no  one  on  deck,  as  they  soon 
perceived.  The  rain  beat  down  heavily  upon  it,  and 
the  water  washed  over  its  low  gunwales  as  if  it  were 
the  waves  of  the  bayou.  The  stream,  however,  showed 
even  yet  no  motion,  no  current;  it  was  covered  by  a 
myriad  of  tiny  bosses,  so  to  speak,  the  rain  being  so 
persistent,  the  fall  so  regular,  as  to  make  the  drop* 
seem  to  stand  stationary  on  its  surface.  It  had  risen 
several  feet,  as  was  evinced  by  the  half-submerged 
vegetation  along  the  banks,  the  tips  fresh  and  green, 
with  no  token  of  having  been  long  under  water.  Be 
neath  that  black  cloud,  with  the  sinister  effect  of  the 
white  trunks  of  the  cypress  trees  on  either  hand, 
deadened  by  repeated  overflows,  their  weird  reflec 
tions  in  the  trembling  black  water,  the  funereal  aspect 
of  the  pendent  Spanish  moss  hanging  from  the  high 
limbs  and  even  festooning  the  trees  from  one  side 
of  the  stream  to  the  other,  —  the  world,  the  past, 
life  itself,  annihilated  by  the  clouds,  —  the  dark  and 
gloomy  watercourse  might  have  suggested  the  river 

232 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Styx,  and  the  shadowy,  visionary,  ill-defined  boat  the 
craft  of  Charon.  They  both  felt  an  averse  curiosity 
as  they  approached  still  nearer,  striving  to  disinte 
grate  from  the  rain  and  the  cloud  some  individual 
characteristic  or  sign  of  occupation  of  the  phantom 
craft.  Regnan  began  to  think  it  a  derelict,  an  old 
abandoned  hulk ;  but  he  soon  saw  that  it  sat  the 
water  much  too  jauntily,  a  stout,  dry  hull,  tight  and 
serviceable.  Presently  their  keen  young  eyes  dis 
criminated  a  curl  of  smoke  amidst  the  vapors  that 
lay  on  the  roof  of  the  cabin.  This  was  little  more 
than  a  shed  of  upright  boards,  very  flimsily  put  to 
gether,  and  a  tiny  square  window  along  the  eaves 
promised  little  for  light.  It  served  the  purpose  of 
a  lookout,  however.  A  pale  face  appeared  there.  It 
seemed  to  scan  disconsolately  the  rain-lost  world  with 
out,  the  encroaching  cloud,  the  swamp  with  its  sink 
ing  aspect ;  and  suddenly,  with  transfixed  attention,  to 
become  aware  of  the  approaching  sportsmen,  the  horse 
of  the  one  up  to  the  girth  as  he  plodded  through 
the  half  submerged  morass,  that  of  the  other  out  of 
his  depth  and  beginning  to  swim. 

For  one  spectral  moment  the  face  stared  as  if  con 
fronted  by  doom.  Then  the  door  of  the  cabin  opened, 
and  disregarding  the  downpour,  with  skirts  lashing 
about  her,  with  long  hair  loose  and  flying,  a  tall, 
sinuous  young  woman  appeared,  sprang  from  the  deck 
upon  the  marshy  bank,  cast  loose  the  line  about  a  tree, 
leaped  back  upon  the  deck  in  a  moment,  caught  up 
a  pole,  and  with  a  stalwart  effort  had  pushed  off  an 
oar's  length  or  two  before  the  man  whom  her  shrill 

233 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

cries  had  summoned  stumbled  out  of  the  cabin  and 
stood  staring  at  the  newcomers,  with  little  apparent 
inclination  to  lend  a  hand  to  the  effort  of  clearing 
the  harbor. 

It  was  vain.  The  horsemen  were  too  close  upon 
them.  Such  motive  power  as  kept  the  sluggish  bayou 
on  its  course  from  the  Mississippi  River  was  too  slight 
to  aid  the  pole  to  evade  the  speed  of  a  swimming 
horse.  Desmond,  indeed,  had  boarded  the  craft  while 
the  imbecile  face  of  the  boat-hand  was  still  bent  upon 
him. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  this  behavior?"  he  de 
manded  angrily,  not  as  yet  recognizing  either  the 
man  or  the  woman.  "  Tie  up  the  boat  again,  and 
show  us  your  bar." 

"  Jocelindy  !  Jocelindy  !  ye  fool,  ye  !  "  cried  the 
boat-hand,  striking  the  struggling  woman  on  the 
shoulder  with  his  heavy  hand.  But  for  this  repulsive 
brutality  it  might  have  been  pathetic  to  hear  him  tax 
another  with  his  own  obvious  infirmity.  "  Don't  ye 
see  the  gentleman's  goin'  ter  spen'  money  with  us!" 

He  busied  himself  in  tying  up  the  boat  in  quick 
order,  and  found  a  place  where  the  two  horses  could 
stand  on  pretty  staunch  ground  under  the  interlacing 
boughs  of  cottonwood,  so  thick  as  to  afford  some 
shelter  from  the  rain.  He  had  fodder  aboard,  too, 
he  said. 

"  Some  fodder  we  had  to  pack  a  lot  o*  chany," 
interposed  the  woman,  suddenly  and  shrilly,  "  becase 
there  was  n't  no  straw  convenient." 

Desmond  had  no  mind  to  linger  on  ceremony. 

234 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Without  waiting  for  an  invitation,  he  turned  toward 
the  cabin  door.  The  woman,  still  standing  in  the  tor 
rents,  a  secret  thought  in  her  face,  her  head  askew, 
her  draggled  attire  dripping  with  rain,  her  mouth 
bent  down  upon  her  clenched  fist,  suddenly  asked  :  — 

"  Tell  me  one  word,  —  is  your  name  Faurie  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Desmond,  frowning  at  the  identifica 
tion  with  his  employers  as  if  he  were  of  no  importance 
in  himself ;  "  my  name  is  Desmond." 

"  Thar  now,  Jocelindy,  ye  told  Jed  that  very  word," 
exclaimed  the  boat-hand,  mowing  and  laughing  with 
imbecile  and  extravagant  glee.  "  Ye  told  him  that 
this  very  mornin'  before  he  set  out  with  his  spade." 

There  was  an  incongruity  in  any  mutual  utilities 
between  a  boat  and  a  spade,  but  Desmond  was  new 
to  the  river  country  and  did  not  appreciate  this  fact. 
It  struck  Regnan  at  once,  but  he  had  no  reason  to 
place  inimical  construction  upon  the  acts  of  the  boat's 
company,  and  it  passed  without  comment. 

Though  what  is  called  "  not  right  bright,"  Ethan 
Knoxton  was  discriminating  enough  to  preside  very 
acceptably  at  a  bar  when  two  storm-drenched  wights 
stood  before  it,  and  he  ranged  the  glasses  with  an 
extra  polish  and  tipped  a  decanter.  It  was  a  dull, 
squalid  little  hole,  with  a  permanent  aroma  of  the 
greasy  fumes  of  many  breakfasts  fried  on  the  monkey 
stove  at  the  farther  end  of  the  cabin,  and  the  heavy, 
oily  flavor  of  the  untrimmed  wick  of  a  kerosene  lamp 
swinging  above  the  bar.  The  water  dripped  dismally 
from  their  coats  and  riding-breeches  into  the  already 
well-filled  legs  of  their  high  boots,  that  gave  a  squash- 

235 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

ing  sound  at  every  step.  From  their  hats  chilly  little 
streams  trickled  into  their  collapsed  shirt  collars  and 
down  their  shivering  spines ;  and  as  the  first  drop  of 
liquor  touched  their  palates,  the  surprise  to  find  that 
instead  of  rank,  coarse  whiskey  it  was  good  French 
brandy  was  so  grateful  that  they  could  but  look  at 
each  other  with  glistening  eyes  over  the  rims  of  their 
glasses  as  they  drank. 

The  boat-hand  watched  them  expectantly. 

"  My !  Ain't  that  fine ! "  Then  as  they  set  the 
glasses  down,  he  whooped  out  his  vicarious  joy  and 
smote  his  leg  with  the  palm  of  his  open  hand. 

Desmond  had  insisted  on  paying  by  right  of  his 
discovery  of  the  bar,  and  he  laid  down  the  price  of 
three  drinks.  "  You  will  oblige  me,"  he  said  politely 
to  the  boat-hand,  struggling  with  his  distaste  and 
disgust.  One  should  not  despise  the  poor,  and  the 
uncouth,  and  the  deprived,  who  may  have  more  value 
in  their  Maker's  eyes  than  one  wots  of.  Therefore, be 
cause  the  semblance  of  humanity  was  not  always  dis 
dained,  he  sought  to  have  a  regard  to  the  mere  image. 

"  For  me  ?  "  The  protuberant,  grotesque  eyes  of 
the  boat-hand  were  stretched.  "  For  me  !  "  He  could 
hardly  realize  the  rich  opportunity.  "For  ME  ! "  And 
at  last  convinced,  he  exclaimed,  "  Lord  love  ye ! 
Lord  bless  ye !  Lord  save  ye !  "  and  gulped  down 
the  French  brandy,  casting  up  the  gloating  eyes  of 
extreme  ecstasy  at  every  swallow.  He  smacked  his 
lips  again  and  again,  to  be  heard  in  the  remotest 
corner  of  the  cabin,  then  stood  comfortably  smelling 
the  glass  while  the  others  turned  toward  the  stove. 

236 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  Is  n't  that  queer —  French  brandy  ?  "  Desmond 
suggested. 

"  Smuggled,  I  suppose,"  said  Regnan. 

"  Stolen,  I  'm  afraid,"  said  Desmond,  sotto  vocc, 
mopping  the  rain  from  his  cold  face  and  shaking  the 
rills  from  his  drenched  hat.  The  jeopardy,  the  con 
fusion,  the  exhaustion  attendant  on  the  moment  of 
rescue  from  the  sinister  menace  of  the  swamp  and 
the  cloud-burst  engrossed  his  faculties,  but  he  was 
vaguely  recollecting  that  he  had  recently  heard  of 
the  dispensing  of  this  choice  liquor  among  a  class  of 
swampers  to  whom  its  market  price  rendered  it  unac 
customed  and  unattainable. 

"  Well,  I  was  not  particeps  criminis  till  it  was 
halfway  down,  —  too  far  to  catch  it.  And  it  feels  just 
as  good  where  it  is  as  if  it  was  honestly  come  by," 
Regnan  laughed. 

The  woman  had  utilized  the  interval  while  their 
backs  were  turned,  and  perhaps  the  shelter  of  a  cur 
tained  bunk,  to  slip  into  a  dry  gown  and  a  clean 
apron,  and  she,  too,  seemed  to  have  determined  on 
a  change  of  tactics.  She  would  fry  for  the  gentlemen 
some  rashers  of  bacon  and  eggs,  if  they  liked ;  and 
set  on  a  strong  pot  of  coffee,  she  said. 

"  Are  you  afraid  of  spoiling  your  appetite  for  that 
barbecued  shoat?"  Regnan  asked  Desmond,  with  a 
rallying  eye. 

"  No  ;  are  you  ?  "  For  the  day  was  wearing  on  into 
the  afternoon.  There  were  already  dulling  intimations 
in  the  clouds,  as  if  the  limits  of  light  in  their  midst 
were  curtailed.  The  woman  listened  intently  as  she 

237 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

set  forth  her  poor  and  humble  board  with  its  best ; 
and  when  they  were  seated  on  either  side  and  she 
whisked  about  serving  them,  her  strange,  snake-like 
face  had  a  more  propitiatory  and  pleasing  expression 
than  seemed  possible,  with  her  high  cheek-bones,  her 
eyes  aslant,  her  long,  serpentine  neck. 

She  suddenly  addressed  Desmond.  "  You  see  he 
ain't  quit  suckiu*  his  thumb  yit,"  she  said,  as  an  in 
fantine  babbling  caused  Desmond  to  turn  his  head 
to  perceive  sitting  bolt  upright  in  a  bunk  behind  him 
an  infant  in  a  red  gown  with  his  thumb  in  his  mouth, 
regarding  the  feasting  with  slobbering  admiration, 
but  making  no  effort  to  partake  and  no  demand  to 
be  served. 

Desmond  recognized  her  now  for  the  first  time. 
He  had  given  her  but  little  notice  since  coming 
aboard,  and  on  the  occcrision  of  his  previous  visit  to 
the  shanty-boat,  partly  because  of  the  dimness  of 
the  light  in  the  little  cabin,  partly  because  of  the 
sensational  development  of  the  interview,  he  had  not 
sufficiently  observed  the  subsidiary  members  of  the 
crew  —  the  woman,  the  child,  and  the  boat-hand  — 
to  remember  their  faces.  If  Jedidiah  Knoxton  had 
been  present,  there  would  have  been  no  delay  in 
recalling  the  personnel  of  the  whole  party. 

"  That  lady,  Mrs.  Faurie,"  continued  the  woman, 
speaking  in  a  very  propitiatory  manner,  "  told  me 
how  to  break  him  of  it,  too.  She 's  powerful  hand 
some,  sure,  ain't  she  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Desmond  to  this  direct  appeal.  "  And 
she  is  a  very  kind  lady." 

238 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  Sure !  She  told  me  she  'd  gin  little  Ikey  some 
baby  clothes." 

"  But  you  left  very  suddenly,"  said  Desmond,  sig 
nificantly. 

Regnan  continued  to  eat  silently,  surprised  at  the 
evidence  of  previous  acquaintance,  but  comfortable 
enough  that  it  made  no  conversational  demands  upon 
him,  so  keen  an  appetite  had  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
day  given  him. 

"  I  want  to  tell  you  about  that,"  said  the  woman, 
winningly.  "Jed's  a  mighty  techy  kind  o'  man  an* 
he  got  sorter  nettled  'bout  that  thar  wheel.  He  'lowed 
you  b'lieved  it  was  stole.  An'  truth  was,  he  knowed 
he  did  n't  come  by  it  right  straight.  A  young  boy 
nigh  Ring-fence  Plantation  traded  it  to  him  fur  mighty 
little  money.  His  dad  had  give  it  to  him  fur  Chris'- 
mas,  an'  the  chile  had  got  tired  of  it  an'  had  ruther 
have  a  few  dollars.  I  begged  Jed  not  to  humor  him ; 
't  was  wuth  mo'.  But  Jed  said  a  plaything  a  boy  is 
tired  of  ain't  wuth  nothin'.  'T  was  a  good  bargain 
fur  him,  an'  he  gits  a  heap  o'  trade  'mongst  the  young 
fry.  But  he  ought  n't  ter  helped  the  boy  sell  his 
wheel  unbeknownst  to  his  folks." 

Her  serpentine  aspect  was  not  altogether  unjusti 
fied.  As  she  charmed  so  wisely,  Desmond's  convic 
tion  was  shaken.  She  laughed  a  little,  as  if  embar 
rassed,  passing  the  hem  of  her  apron  back  and  forth 
in  her  hand. 

"  Truth  is,  he  was  mad  'cause  it  carried  out  my 
warnings ;  an'  sorter  skeered,  too,  'cause  he  seen  how 
it  mought  look  to  other  folks.  Jed 's  real  helter- 

239 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

skelter.  He  pulled  loose  and  drapped  down  the  river, 
but  he  had  n't  gone  a  mile  before  he  was  sorry. 
That 's  Jed." 

The  boat-hand,  listening1,  and  now  quite  won  to 
complaisance  by  the  unusual  prosperity  that  had  be 
fallen  the  "  trading-boat,"  here  in  its  cache,  echoed 
loudly,  "That's  Jed!" 

"  So  I  did  n't  git  my  duds  the  beautiful  lady  pro 
mised  me." 

"  Mrs.  Faurie  would  no  doubt  send  them  to  you  if 
she  knew  where  you  would  be,"  said  Desmond,  me 
chanically  meditating  on  his  suspicions.  The  story 
was  very  glib.  The  shanty-boaters  might  have  had  no 
complicity  with  the  tragedy  at  Whippoorwill  Landing 
and  no  culpability  as  the  receivers  of  stolen  goods,  — 
thus  accessory  after  the  fact.  But  the  flavor  of  the 
French  brandy  still  lingered  about  his  palate ;  evi 
dently  they  did  not  know  its  value  as  a  beverage, 
and  this  was  suspicious.  Still,  smuggling  was  com 
paratively  a  venial  matter,  and  he  had  a  vague  regret 
that  he  had  been  so  quick  to  direct  the  suspicion  of 
the  authorities  upon  so  poor  and  defenseless  a  group. 
But  he  had  had  no  word  how  the  information  had 
been  received,  or  whether  it  was  to  be  acted  upon. 
Nevertheless,  it  would  be  easy  to  prove  the  truth  of 
her  story,  provided  her  story  was  true. 

"Just  as  well  she  is  where  she  is  to-day,"  Kegnan 
declared.  He  was  leaning  back  in  his  chair,  having 
finished  his  meal  with  a  good  relish,  and  feeling 
about  in  his  cigar  case  to  make  sure  that  its  contents 
had  escaped  without  injury  in  the  general  flood. 

240 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  Try  one  of  these,"  —  he  held  it  across  the  table 
to  Desmond.  "  They  seem  to  be  all  0.  K." 

Desmond  selected  one,  and,  leaning  over,  struck  a 
match  on  the  lid  of  the  stove.  "  The  luckiest  thing 
imaginable  for  us,"  he  said  in  jerks,  as  he  held  the 
light  to  the  end  and  pulled  hard  to  set  it  aglow, 
"  that  we  happened  to  see  the  boat  when  we  did." 

"Fires  up  all  right?"  Regnan  queried.  Then  — 
"  You  must  charge  us  a  good  round  price  for  this 
dinner,  madam.  We  are  paying  for  not  being  at  the 
bottom  of  the  bayou," — he  laughed.  "We  have  a 
special  reason  for  not  wanting  to  meet  up  with  some 
thing  we  know  is  there." 

O 

His  face  changed  suddenly ;  he  looked  at  her  in 
consternation.  Never  had  he  seen  such  an  expression 
as  settled  upon  her  countenance.  Fear  it  was  at  first. 
"  For  God's  sake,  what !  "  she  gasped.  Then  —  anger. 
"  Ye  'd  better  mind  yer  tongue,  now  !  "  Her  fingers 
closed  on  the  handle  of  a  great  butcher  knife  on 
the  meat  block  in  the  corner.  And  now  —  venom. 
"  Ye  're  jes'  two  cowardly,  lying  rapscallions !  Ye 
dun  no  what 's  in  the  bayou  !  An'  ye  ain't  got  no  call 
to  know  !  An'  besides,"  —  with  a  realization  of  self- 
betrayal, —  "thar  ain't  nuthin'  thar  fur  ye  to  know 
—  ha!  ha!  ha!  —  te,  he,  he  !  " 

Regnan  had  risen,  startled  and  wondering ;  but 
Desmond  sat  perfectly  still,  looking  steadily  at  her, 
convinced  that,  added  to  the  unstoried  crimes  and  the 
unsavory  detritus  that  the  bayou  hid  under  its  black 
waters  and  its  deep,  unstable  mire,  lay  the  stolen  wheel, 
and  heaven  knew  what  gear  besides,  from  the  looting 

241 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

of  the  store  at  Whippoorwill  Landing  by  the  merci 
less  murderers. 

It  was  a  painful  moment.  He  was  glad  to  walk  to 
the  door  of  the  cabin  and  look  out  once  more  at  the 
steadily  falling  rain ;  at  the  spurious  palpitation  that 
the  drops  set  up  on  the  surface  of  the  immobile 
stream ;  at  the  dark,  encompassing  forest,  the  water 
side  vegetation  still  in  the  pallid  green  of  spring, 
seeming  to  hold  all  the  light  and  color  of  the  neutral- 
tinted  landscape;  at  the  slow  circling  of  the  vapors 
about  the  deck  of  the  shanty-boat.  There  was  a  pro 
jection  above  the  door  like  the  shelter  of  eaves,  and 
as  he  stood,  only  an  occasional  drop  of  water  fell 
upon  his  head.  He  was  all  unprescient ;  he  was  con 
scious  merely  of  distaste,  the  exhaustion  from  exertion, 
a  sense  of  inexpressible  boredom,  the  discomfort  of 
his  half-dried  garb,  and  an  impatient  desire  to  be 
through  with  the  whole  episode.  It  met  him  like 
fate  !  —  the  muffled  boom  of  a  distant  bell ! 


CHAPTER  XI 

AT  was  a  strange  thing  to  Desmond.  Try  as  he 
might,  Regnan  could  not  hear  it.  Summoned  to  the 
door,  he  stood  and  looked  out,  and  bent  his  attention 
to  discern  only  the  rhythmic  throb  of  the  rain,  only 
the  waves  splashing  across  the  deck,  only  the  slow  drip 
of  the  water  through  a  leak  in  the  flimsy  roof.  He 
looked  curiously  at  his  companion  as  Desmond,  every 
fibre  alert,  his  eyes  afire  with  excitement,  his  lifted 
hand  trembling,  and  the  cigar  between  his  fingers 
dead  in  its  ash,  would  exclaim  "  Now ! "  and  stand 
motionless  again,  listening  acutely  as  if  to  an  echo. 

"  I  hear  nothing  but  the  rain,"  said  Regnan.  "  But 
even  if  there  were  no  rain,  we  could  n't  hear  the  bell 
at  Dryad-Dene  so  far  as  this." 

"  But  this  might  be  the  bell  at  Great  Oaks,"  argued 
Desmond. 

"  They  would  n't  ring  unless  they  were  overflowed. 
We  left  Dryad-Dene  high  and  dry  this  morning,  and 
Great  Oaks  never  goes  under  until  Dryad-Dene  is 
half  drowned,  hardly  ever  even  then  ;  for  the  Fauries 
have  a  private  cross  levee  that  protects  Great  Oaks, 
to  a  considerable  extent.  Besides,  there  is  no  danger 
yet  from  high  water,  —  all  talk  and  the  usual  spring 


scare." 


"  There ! "  The  bell  boomed  again,  shaking  the 
mists.  And  Desmond  looked  into  the  face  of  Regnan 
in  triumphant  confirmation,  to  find  his  companion  fix- 

243 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

ing  agitated,  half-compassionate,  half -questioning  eyes 
upon  him. 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  laying  his  hand  on  Desmond's 
arm,  "  you  don't  hear  a  sound  but  the  rain." 

"  I  must  go  !  I  must  return  at  once  to  Great  Oaks." 

Regnan  remonstrated.  They  would  be  bogged 
down  ;  the  continued  exposure  would  kill  them ;  he 
would  not  be  a  party  to  so  foolhardy  a  hazard. 
"  What  good  could  you  do  ?  If  they  are  going  under 
water,  they  are  ringing  up  the  force  to  bring  out  the 
gunny-sacks  and  patch  up  the  break." 

"  It  might  be  something  else.    There  !  " 

Along  the  dark  waters  the  sound  was  borne.  It 
filled  the  fall  of  the  rain  with  a  distant  undiscrimi 
nated  vibration. 

"  I  ought  to  be  able  to  restrain  you  by  reason, 
Desmond,"  Regnan  urged  seriously.  "  Don't  let  me 
have  to  appeal  to  these  people  for  aid." 

"  Look  out,"  said  Desmond,  with  a  dangerous  flash 
of  the  eye.  "  They  are  river  pirates.  I  have  cause 
to  know." 

"  So  have  /,"  declared  Regnan,  bursting  with 
laughter.  "  I  saw  two  bales  of  cotton  tucked  away  in 
that  closet  when  that  rascal  opened  the  door  to  get 
the  brandy." 

A  word,  a  nod,  an  inferential  phrase,  and  Regnan 
was  in  possession  of  the  story  of  the  bicycle  and  of 
the  suspicions  of  the  shanty-boat's  complicity  as  a 
"  fence  "  with  the  marauders  of  the  looted  store  at 
Whippoorwill  Landing. 

"  If  you  are  minded  to  trust  yourself  to  such 

244 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

creatures,  I  caii  only  deplore  your  lack  of  judgment. 
If  you  will  come  with  me,  I  know  they  will  be  glad 
to  put  you  up  at  Great  Oaks." 

"I  'm  afraid  of  getting  my  feet  wet/'  Regnan 
whimsically  protested. 

"  You  had  much  better  come  with  me  to  Great 
Oaks." 

"  I  'm  all  right  here.  There  is  nothing  to  gain  by 
meddling  with  me.  These  people  won't  dare.  If  I 
should  be  missing,  they  know  that  you  would  give 
information  where  I  was  last  seen.  I  am  perfectly 
safe.  I  am  going  to  take  up  my  abode  on  this  trad 
ing-boat,  my  ark,  as  it  seems,  till  the  waters  subside. 
The  dove  is  apparently  something  of  the  fiercest. 
And  the  lunatic  yonder  sends  cold  chills  down  my 
spine.  But  I  will  risk  them,  rather  than  that  treach 
erous  swamp.  So  will  you,  if  you  are  wise." 

Boom !  Desmond  had  already  paid  his  score  with 
out  question,  to  the  surprise  of  the  boat's  company, 
accustomed  to  dicker  on  a  price. 

"  Make  my  excuses  to  the  Kentopps,"  he  said 
to  Regnan,  ending  the  discussion  and  turning  to 
leave. 

"  If  ever  I  see  them  again,"  cried  Regnan.  "  I 
feel  my  feet  spreading  out  in  webs.  I  think  my 
wing  feathers  are  sprouting.  I  '11  be  transformed 
into  some  sort  of  waterfowl  and  never  get  beyond 
Bogue  Humma-Echeto  any  more !  " 

"  I  '11  send  the  horse  back  to-morrow,"  Desmond 
called  out.  He  sprang  through  the  rain  from  the  deck 
to  the  dark  and  marshy  soil.  But  his  horse  lifted 

245 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

his  head  with  a  glad  neigh  of  recognition,  and  as  he 
put  foot  in  stirrup  and  rode  off,  the  animal  set  out 
at  a  swift  gait  and  with  a  stout  willingness  of  heart 
that  showed  his  eagerness  for  a  comfortable  stall  and 
manger,  and  his  weariness  of  the  detention  that  had 
nevertheless  rested  him  well.  Under  these  conditions 
the  inundated  swamp  proved  a  less  difficult  proposi 
tion,  albeit  the  water  had  risen  almost  girth  high  and 
the  wading  was  slow,  —  the  horse  splashing  along 
with  a  distinct  impact  of  the  mire,  pulling  with  a  sort 
of  suction  under  his  hoofs. 

Desmond,  prescient  of  disaster,  he  knew  not  what, 
fired  with  the  ardor  of  a  rescue,  he  knew  not  from 
what,  ready  to  sacrifice  comfort,  safety,  life  itself,  in 
this  wild,  adventurous  sort  in  his  premonition  that 
Honoria  Faurie  had  summoned  assistance,  that  the 
bell  had  rung  for  help  at  Great  Oaks  Plantation, 
resolved  that  no  aid  should  come  more  willingly,  more 
instinct  with  protective  spirit,  than  from  him.  It  did 
not  once  occur  to  him  that  this  was  a  superfluous 
hazard  which  it  was  no  part  of  his  duty  to  encounter. 
His  only  care,  his  only  hope,  was  to  reach  the  planta 
tion  safely,  that  he  might  reach  it  swiftly.  He  took  no 
risks,  less  with  a  realization  of  his  own  interest  than 
a  prudence  in  compassing  his  object.  He  exerted  a 
judgment  that  might  have  been  thought  impossible 
in  one  so  unused  to  woodland  experience;  and  though 
the  sense  of  loneliness  settled  down  heavily  upon  him 
when  he  could  no  longer  see  Regnan  on  the  deck  of 
his  ark,  and  at  last  not  even  the  outline  of  the  trading- 
boat,  rising  ever  higher  and  higher  in  the  sky  as  he 

246 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

went  down  and  down  into  the  swamp  till  indeed  it 
seemed  caught  up  into  the  clouds,  he  kept  a  stout 
heart.  He  resolutely  turned  his  mind  from  the  know 
ledge  of  the  coming  of  darkness,  only  an  hour  or  so 
distant,  the  savage  animals  of  this  primeval  aque 
ous  wilderness,  the  probable  chance  that  he  might 
lose  his  way,  the  indefinite  data  by  which  he  might 
keep  it,  his  burning  impatience  of  the  slow  progress 
which  might  yet  fail  to  put  him  ere  benighted  beyond 
the  immediate  region  of  slough  and  swamp  and 
bayou,  now  infinitely  increased  in  extent  by  the  rain 
fall.  The  small  compass  in  his  pocket  which  he  had 
used  in  a  lesson  with  the  redoubtable  Chub  was  of 
great  advantage  in  keeping  him  to  his  direction. 
Straight  to  the  south,  Regnan  had  declared,  and  he 
would  come  at  last  to  the  cross  levee  which  usually 
protected  Great  Oaks  in  time  of  overflow  from  receiv 
ing  a  share  of  the  neighboring  inundations,  backing 
up  as  the  waters  were  reinforced.  Southward  he  went, 
struggling  through  sloughs,  swimming  bayous,  scram 
bling  up  steep  banks.  On  one  of  these  his  stout  horse 
fell  backward  almost  upon  his  rider,  and  Desmond, 
throwing  himself  to  one  side,  escaped  but  for  a 
bruised  shoulder  and  arm,  while  the  animal  was  badly 
shaken.  He  could  hardly  endure  the  delay  as  he  stood 
on  the  edge  of  the  water  by  the  trembling  creature 
and  they  had  some  conversation,  as  one  may  say,  over 
the  mischance  and  the  necessity  of  pressing  on.  But 
the  red  roan  was  a  good  plucked  brute,  and  before 
long  they  were  forging  ahead  once  more,  man  and 
horse  in  perfect  mutual  confidence. 

247 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Desmond  could  have  shouted  with  joy  when  at  last 
he  saw  the  great  winding  earthwork,  covered  witli  its 
green  Bermuda  grass ;  and  when  they  climbed  its  steep 
slope  and  gained  the  path  on  the  summit,  the  horse 
of  his  own  accord  struck  a  jaunty  little  canter,  glad 
of  the  good  going  and  the  sight  once  more  of  a  civil 
ized  landscape  ;  for  presently  within  view  were  great 
stretches  of  cotton-fields.  And  what  was  that  im 
mense  expanse  in  the  distance?  Desmond  could  not 
distinguish  for  the  rain  and  the  mist,  and  for  a  pheno 
menon  of  far  more  import.  In  the  shadow  of  a  stretch 
of  forest  a  huge  gully  intervened  in  the  levee, — fresh, 
the  earth  on  the  sides  showing  a  degree  of  dryness 
despite  the  rain,  the  sod  of  Bermuda  ripped  through, 
and  the  turf,  still  green,  thrown  aside.  The  levee  had 
been  cut,  and  Desmond  received  an  illumination  in  the 
recollection  of  the  boat-hand's  words  that  Jed  Knox- 
ton  had  gone  forth  that  morning  with  his  spade.  He 
began  to  have  an  appalling  sense  of  the  extent  of  the 
disaster  even  before  he  came  upon  a  counterpart  exca 
vation  and  realized  that  the  levee  had  been  cut  in 
more  than  one  place.  The  nefarious  job  had  been 
thoroughly  done,  and  though  in  broad  daylight,  the 
cloaking  fog  and  blinding  rain  offered  an  impunity 
that  a  dark  and  clear  night  could  scarcely  have 
afforded.  He  understood  now  the  significance  of  that 
broad  expanse  of  copper-hued  glister  of  which  he  had 
caught  but  a  glimpse  through  the  aisles  of  the  woods 
and  the  serried  ranks  of  the  rainfall ;  it  was  overflow, 
miles  of  overflow,  submerging  -the  wide  tilled  and 
orderly  fields  of  Great  Oaks  Plantation.  And  that 

248 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

roar  in  the  air  —  what  was  it?  Tumultuous,  loud,  with 
a  petulant  dash  and  a  sinister  sibilance,  blended  with 
episodic  crashes  and  sudden  wild  clamors,  like  the 
frenzied  turbulence  of  savage  beasts.  It  was  the  voice 
of  the  Mississippi  River,  silent  no  longer  in  its  deep 
channel,  but  rioting  in  shallow  floods  over  the  aghast, 
despoiled  plains,  crying  out  in  its  license  and  its  mad 
joy,  seeming  now  and  again  to  smite  against  the  sky. 
The  wind  was  rising.  The  gusts,  coming  down  the 
great,  unimpeded  highway  of  the  stream,  gave  im 
petus  to  its  currents  surging  against  miles  of  levee 
still  unbroken,  and  lashing  and  sweeping  away,  melt 
ing  in  a  moment,  the  embankments  that  collapsed 
under  its  force.  The  water  nearest  at  hand,  he  per 
ceived,  was  backing  up ;  it  was  not  long  before  he 
had  reached  it,  lapping  playfully  about  the  base  of 
the  cross  levee  on  which  he  stood.  How  long  this 
path  would  continue  practicable  he  could  not  com 
pute.  The  horse,  more  accustomed  to  the  river  and 
its  incidents,  was  showing  evident  signs  of  uneasi 
ness,  and  in  fact  he  stopped  presently,  with  tossing 
head  and  startled  eyes  and  planted  hoofs,  before  Des 
mond  perceived  through  the  rain  and  the  distance  a 
white  flashing  in  the  dun  evening  light,  which,  had 
he  no  experience  of  the  locality,  he  might  have  mis 
taken  for  a  cataract.  The  inference  was  obvious.  It 
was  the  foam  of  raging  waters  as  they  tore  through 
an  excavation  intersecting  the  cross  levee  once  more. 
The  great  volume  of  the  flood  was  surging  over  its 
summit.  It  was  a  question  of  only  a  very  short  time 
when  the  levee,  along  which  he  had  come  and  where 

249 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

he  now  stood,  would  be  swept  away.  Both  he  and  the 
horse  were  in  imminent  danger  of  death  by  drown 
ing.  His  first  impulse  was  to  turn  back  and  retrace 
his  way.  But  at  this  moment  of  hesitation  his  atten 
tion  was  caught  by  a  moving  object  on  the  face  of 
the  waters,  emerging  from  the  fog  and  the  rain,  and 
grad  ually  materializing  as  a  man  in  a  very  small  boat. 

"  Hello  !  "  cried  Desmond,  peremptorily. 

The  man  ceased  to  paddle  and  looked  about  him 
doubtfully,  at  first  on  his  own  level,  only  descrying 
the  mounted  figure  on  the  embankment  at  a  second 
stentorian  roar  from  Desmond. 

"  Fur  de  Lawd's  sake,  is  dat  you,  Mr.  Desmond !  " 
he  cried  out  in  instant  recognition.  "  In  de  name  o' 
sense,  what  you  gwine  do  up  dar  on  dat  levee  ?  " 

"  Is  that  you,  Seth  ?  "  for  the  negro  was  a  hostler 
on  Great  Oaks  Plantation,  a  very  black  fellow,  look 
ing  as  he  sat  in  the  dugout  like  a  silhouette  against 
the  gray  rain  and  the  white  mist  and  the  yellow 
water.  "  I  don't  know  what  to  think  —  " 

"I  does,"  Seth  promptly  interrupted.  "  I  think  you 
gwine  git  yo'se'f  drownded,  an*  Colonel  Kentopp's 
hawse,  too." 

"  How  deep  is  the  water  ?  "  Desmond  had  the  in 
stinct  of  remonstrating  against  this  as  a  decree  of 
fate. 

"  Six  feet  along  dar,  an'  risin'  every  jump.  I  ain't 
never  seen  the  contrary  old  ribber  on  sech  a  bender, 
an'  I  been  knowin'  her  gwine  on  fawty  year." 

Desmond  was  alarmed  at  the  idea  of  jeopardizing 
the  valuable  horse.  He  hardly  noticed  Seth's  plaints. 

250 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  We-all's  levee  done  cut  —  'fore  de  Lawd,  dem 
planters  in  Deep  water  Bend  below  Great  Oaks  would 
be  mighty  glad  if  dey  could  cotch  dat  varmint  dat  cut 
de  levee.  Dey  nachully  depends  on  Great  Oaks  cross 
levee  to  keep  the  ribber  off  'n  dem,  when  Dry'-Dene 
goes  under.  Oh,  my  Lawd  A'mighty,  dis  am  a  drefful 
day,  shore ! " 

"  I  had  better  ride  back  along  the  levee,"  said 
Desmond,  ponderingly. 

"  It  '11  be  under  water  in  ten  minutes." 

"But  I  must  take  the  horse  to  some  place  of 
safety." 

"  Whar  is  dat?"  demanded  Seth,  walling  his  great 
eyes,  with  the  whites  very  prominent  as  he  gazed  up 
at  his  interlocutor  at  long  range ;  the  distance  was 
constantly  lessened,  however,  for  he  paddled  closer 
and  closer  to  the  base  of  the  levee  as  he  talked. 

"What  is  the  safest  way  to  the  stables?  I  will 
take  the  horse  there." 

"  What  you  gwine  dar  fur?  You  hatter  charter  a 
steamboat.  Water  up  ter  de  mangers." 

"  In  the  Great  Oaks  stables  ?  Is  the  mansion 
flooded,  too?"  Desmond,  in  keen  alarm  for  the  house 
hold,  trembled  to  hear  the  reply. 

These  disasters  and  their  concurrent  dangers  were 
so  new  to  his  experience  and  even  traditions  that  he 
could  scarcely  contemplate  their  encounter  with  com 
posure.  Seth  seemed  to  him  a  stolidly  unfeeling 
clod,  hardly  able  to  stretch  his  limited  faculties  to  an 
adequate  comprehension.  But  indeed,  though  there 
was  no  lack  of  water  hereabout,  Seth  had  contributed 

251 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

a  tear  or  two  to  the  floods  in  his  woe  and  despair  for 
the  destruction  of  these  familiar  values  by  which  he 
lived  and  in  which  he  had  such  vicarious  pride. 

"  The  stable  under  water  ?  Why,  how  about  the 
mansion  ?  " 

"  De  gret  house  is  safe !  "  Seth  snapped  out,  as  if 
the  question  were  imputations ;  even  the  insubordi 
nate  Mississippi  River  would  not  venture  upon  the 
presumption  to  meddle  with  the  dignified  mansion 
house  of  Great  Oaks  Plantation.  "I  jes'  seen  Bob, 
an'  he  'lowed  de  water  had  filled  de  grove,  an'  air 
lappin'  'round  de  underpinnin',  but 't  ain't  riz  yit  inter 
de  veranda." 

Desmond  was  aghast  at  this  intimation  of  jeopardy. 

"  De  gret  house  is  on  high  groun',  an'  dough  dey 
tuk  up  de  kyarpets  wunst,  de  overflow  ain't  never 
been  rightly  in  de  mansion  house." 

"  Bob  ought  to  be  there ;  it  is  the  footman's  sta 
tion,"  Desmond  exclaimed,  thinking  how  few  the  in 
mates  to  cope  with  any  unusual  danger. 

"Dey  ain't  none  o'  de  house  sarvants  dar,  'cept  de 
cook-woman.  Mis'  Honoria  sont  de  rest  ob  dem  ter 
holp  dar  famblies  at  de  quarter.  Bless  de  Lawd,  boss, 
ye  o  ugh  ter  see  de  quarter !"  Seth's  voice  rose  to  a  dis 
tressful  quaver.  "  'T  was  so  suddint —  the  cross  levee 
never  gave  way  before,  an'  we-all  ain't  never  had  no 
sich  water  as  dis  here.  Some  o'  de  tenant  folks  is 
sittin'  on  de  ridge-poles  ob  dar  cabin  roof,  savin' 
nuttin'  but  dar  bedclothes ;  dar  f  unicher  is  floatin'  'way 
like  't  war  'witched  an'  gone  swimmin'.  The  chillen 
wuz  mighty  nigh  drownded.  One  dem  pickaninnies  ob 

252 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

Liza  Jane's  war  cotched  by  the  tail  ob  its  coat  an' 
hung  in  a  cottonwood  tree.  Hit  hollered !  But  hit 

o 

never  squirmed.  Hit  knowed  catfish  an'  yalligator 
war  smackin'  dar  lips  an*  sharpenin'  dar  teeth  for 
hit.  Lawd !  Lawd !  We  ain't  never  had  no  sech  time. 
Mis'  Honoria  sont  ebery  sarvant  from  de  gret  house 
ter  holp  dar  folks,  'cept  de  cook-woman — an'  she 
say  she  is  feared  ter  ride  ter  de  quarter  in  de  over 
flow  in  a  dugout." 

"  That  was  why  the  bell  was  ringing,  then ;  to 
summon  help?" 

The  darkey  paused,  leaning  on  his  paddle,  and 
looked  up  at  Desmond  with  a  curious  and  searching 
eye. 

"  Bell !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  The  Great  Oaks  Planta 
tion  bell  ain't  rung  since  daybreak." 

A  second  pause.  Desmond  knew  the  superstition 
concerning  bells,  —  the  ancient  universal  tradition  of 

O  ' 

mystic  summons.  There  was  no  habitation  nearer  the 
bayou  whence  some  sonorous  brazen  casting  could 
send  forth  that  coercive  tone ;  the  distance  from  the 
river  was  too  great  to  admit  the  sound  from  a  passing 
steamer. 

"Naw,  sir;  if  you  hearn  bells  callin'  you  to-day, 
they  ring  in  your  mind.  Somebody  in  heaven  or  hell, 
or  somebody  in  yearth  or  air,  is  callin'  you,  callin' 
you  by  spirit  bells —  thoughts  reach  furder  'n  sound. 
Mighty  cur'us,  but  that 's  sure  true.  Bells !  "  Seth 
raised  himself  on  his  paddle  and  looked  up  with  a 
face  distorted  by  query  and  fear  into  the  rain  and 
fog.  "Bells!"  he  said  again.  Then  he  lent  himself 

253 


THE   FAIR  Mi ssissi PPI AN 

to  the  work  of  the  paddle,  and  was  soon  within  leap 
ing  distance  of  the  levee. 

"  You  gimme  dat  hawse,  boss,  an*  I  '11  take  him  ter 
de  risin'  ground  whar  we  got  what  we  is  saved.  Lawd ! 
ye  ought  ter  see  de  cattle  drownded  !  My  Gawd !  De 
cows  mooin'  an*  de  calves  a-b latin',  all  swimmin'  as 
long  as  dar  legs  could  work  'em  along  —  an*  de  sheep  ! 
Ef  I  had  time,  I  'd  jes  set  down  an'  moan  an'  weep 
an'  preach  dar  funeral.  Some  ob  de  best  head  ob  our 
Great  Oaks  cattle !  Dar  carcases  floatin'  down  de 
ribber  or  cotched  in  de  bushes  in  de  swamp !  Gimme 
dat  hawse.  Colonel  Kentopp  's  a  perlite  man,  but  I  'd 
hate  fur  anything  belongin'  ter  him  ter  git  lost  on 
Great  Oaks  Plantation.  You  could  n't  find  yer  way. 
I  '11  take  tacks  an'  short  cuts,  an'  I  know  whar  is 
risin'  ground.  You  an'  de  hawse  would  lose  yer  way 
an'  both  be  drownded.  You  git  in  de  dugout  an'  go 
ter  de  mansion  house.  You  kin  find  dat,  ef  ye  kin 
see  ter  keep  ter  de  west." 

The  immemorial  dugout,  peculiar  to  the  Mississippi 
River  country,  is  a  primitive  craft,  nothing  more,  in 
deed,  than  a  log,  roughly  hollowed  out  and  shaped  as 
to  stern  and  prow.  It  is  quite  adequate,  however,  to 
the  purposes  of  its  creation,  for  skirting  banks,  navi 
gating  bayous  and  lakes,  rarely  venturing  into  mid 
stream  or  crossing  the  great  river.  It  is  safe  enough 
in  accustomed  hands,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  Desmond 
were  not  in  more  danger  of  drowning  thus  embarked 
than  returning  on  his  precarious  route  along  the  sum 
mit  of  the  levee.  The  dugout  wallowed  portentously 
as  Desmond  stepped  within  its  restricted  space,  but 

254 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

after  a  few  words  of  instruction  from  Seth  he  righted 
the  craft  and  presently  paddled  off  easily  enough,  the 
darkey  standing  beside  the  horse,  watching  the  boat 
till  it  was  lost  to  sight  in  the  rain  and  the  approach 
ing  dusk  and  the  fog  closing  down. 

"  I  'spec'  dat  ar  man  is  safe  in  de  dugout,"  he  mut 
tered,  "dough  his  kind  is  used  ter  de  saloon  ob(a 
side-wheel  steamboat,  an'  dat 's  de  fac'.  We  done  loss 
enough  cattle  drownded  dis  day,  'dout  him  ter  top 
off  wid."  So  saying,  Seth  mounted  and  rode  away 
into  the  rain. 

Though  the  dugout  was  a  new  proposition  to  Des 
mond,  he  had  had  some  experience  with  the  paddle 
as  a  propelling  agent.  His  Alma  Mater  was  situated 
on  a  watercourse,  and  at  one  time  the  Indian  canoe 
and  paddle  was  a  favorite  fad.  Thus  his  progress  was 
swift  through  the  rain  and  the  fog,  despite  the  fact 
that  for  the  first  time  he  felt  the  strength  of  the  cur 
rent  of  the  Mississippi ;  for  he  was  soon  out  of  the 
limits  of  the  back  water  and  in  the  direct  course  of 
the  overflow.  He  would  have  scorned  the  acceptance 
of  a  superstition,  but  the  premonition  of  a  summons 
was  so  strong  upon  him  that  he  stretched  every  mus 
cle  to  his  task.  The  glimpse  of  the  wide  expanse  of 
water,  that  might  have  appalled  him,  alone  and  with 
out  guidance  in  the  midst  of  its  willful,  riotous  tur 
bulence,  was  but  limited.  The  fog  shut  in,  and  but  for 
a  few  boat-lengths  he  could  see  naught  but  the  surg 
ing  yellow  current  of  a  restricted  space  and  the  pallid 
curtain  of  the  cloudy  dusk.  Sometimes  a  shadowy 
looming  near  at  hand  intimated  a  building  half  sub- 

255 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

merged,  invisible  in  the  fog  and  rain.  More  than 
once  he  thought  he  heard  voices,  whether  far  or  near 
he  could  not  determine.  An  incident  of  the  high 
water,  on  which  he  had  not  counted,  was  the  debris 
aloose  and  afloat,  which  invested  navigation  with  un 
dreamed-of  dangers,  with  which  he  could  make  no 
covenant  of  caution.  More  than  once  flotsam  shot 
past  him  in  the  gloom  on  the  swift  current,  with  a 
force  as  if  flung  from  a  catapult ;  sometimes  it  was  the 
lumber  of  a  wrecked  building;  once  it  was  a  capsized 
boat,  adrift,  telling  either  of  the  strain  of  the  current, 
breaking  it  loose  from  its  moorings,  or  of  a  hapless  wight 
lost  upon  the  turbulent  waves ;  once  it  was  a  drift  log, 
which  was  upon  him  almost  as  soon  as  seen,  shooting 
out  of  the  white  invisibilities  of  the  mist  and  striking 
the  dugout  amidships  with  a  force  that  threatened  to 
send  it  to  the  bottom.  It  rocked  so  violently  that 
Desmond  had  much  ado  to  keep  it  right  side  up. 
When  the  drift  log  had  disappeared  and  he  was  once 
more  paddling  on  in  clear  water,  it  seemed  so  deep, 
the  current  was  so  strong,  night  was  closing  in  so 
fast,  that  he  began  to  fear  he  had  been  swept  out  to 
the  main  river ;  at  length,  however,  the  mist  gave 
intimations  here  and  there  of  vertical,  shadowy  ob 
jects  at  close  intervals,  which  he  only  discriminated 
as  the  trees  of  the  grove  when  he  came  in  sudden 
contact  with  the  bole  of  a  gigantic  oak.  The  dug 
out  rebounded  from  the  collision  with  a  violent  recoil 
that  seemed  to  stir  all  the  fibres  of  the  hollowed  log, 
but  Desmond  could  hardly  realize  the  shock  which 
had  jarred  his  every  bone,  so  rejoiced  was  he  to  feel 

256 


THE   FA IR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

himself  near  his  journey's  end.  He  steered  more 
deftly  after  this,  with  more  heed,  with  less  effort  at 
speed,  perhaps  because  the  mists  were  lightening, 
or  that  now  he  had  his  faculties  better  in  hand 
since  his  plunging,  frantic  haste  under  the  spur 
and  lash  of  suspense  was  abated,  as  his  object  was 
achieved.  Soon  he  was  able  to  discern  that  he  was 
surely  and  swiftly  approaching  the  house,  which  to 
his  surprise,  massive  and  wide  and  low  in  the  gloom, 
showed  not  a  single  gleam  of  light.  He  saw  the  live 
oak  at  one  side,  which  the  veranda  encircled,  tower 
ing  up  into  the  air,  and  suddenly  he  lifted  his  paddle 
and  let  the  dugout  drift  without  a  sound.  For  there, 
in  front  of  the  main  entrance,  a  yawl  swung  at  a  dis 
tance  of  a  few  oars'  length,  kept  from  drifting  by 
the  occasional  stroke  of  half  a  dozen  rowers.  At  the 
bow  a  man  was  standing,  holding  a  colloquy  with  the 
inmates  of  the  house.  Desmond  had  not  heard  his 
words,  the  husky,  gruff  voice  and  defective  articula 
tion  had  masked  them,  but  his  heart  plunged  respon 
sive  to  the  clear,  vibrant  tones,  thrilled  with  fright, 
as  Mrs.  Faurie  spoke  as  boldly  as  she  might. 

"  But  they  are  not  here/'  she  said. 

The  man  gave  a  sort  of  derisive  chuckle  and  the 
oarsmen  laughed  together.  One  of  them,  a  thick-set 
fellow  with  matted  red  hair,  vaguely  familiar  to 
Desmond,  sitting  crouched  in  the  place  of  the  stroke- 
oar,  spat  contemptuously  in  the  water. 

"Well,  Mrs.  Faurie,  whar  mought  you  be  willin* 
to  say  they  are?"  the  spokesman  asked. 

Another,  pale,  wiry,  hatchet-faced,  and  evidently  a 

257 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

meddlesome  lout,  intruded  a  sneer.  "I  reckon,"  he 
said,  with  a  simpering,  brisk  intonation,  —  "  I  reckon 
ye  won't  purtend  that  you  disremember  whar  you 
put  thutty  thousand  dollars  wuth  o'  emeralds." 

"I  will  not,  indeed!  I  put  them  into  a  bank  in 
New  Orleans." 

Desmond  realized  that  she  was  standing  at  the  open 
window  of  the  parlor,  and  from  such  shelter  as  it 
afforded  was  holding  parley  with  the  villains, — it  was 
doubtless  the  identical  gang  of  river  pirates  who  had 
looted  the  store  at  Whippoorwill  Landing  with  such 
signal  impunity. 

"Then,  madam,  we  will  take  your  order  for  them," 
said  the  flippant  intermeddler,  airily. 

"  Keep  yer  face  out  of  it,  —  ye  're  bug-house,  Dan- 
velt!"  said  the  thick-set  man.  "What  good  would 
the  order  do  ?  She  would  signal  the  fust  steamboat 
that  passed,  —  she  would  telegraph  as  soon  as  we 
were  gone!  —  send  a  nigger  in  a  dugout  across  the 
river  to  the  railroad  flag  station  in  the  Arkansas. 
Either  one  would  overhaul  us." 

"Might  n't  be  ekal  to  signalin'  an'  telegraphin'. 
Might  be  gagged  an'  under  lock  an'  key  —  ef  still 
alive!" 

The  man  in  the  bow  spoke  authoritatively.  "  Sorry 
not  to  take  a  lady's  word.  But  biz  is  biz!  We  will 
search  the  house,  an'  if  the  jools  are  not  thar,  sure 
enough,  you  will  obleege  us  with  your  order  on  your 
bankers,  and  the  key  of  your  deposit  box." 

Mrs.  Faurie  had  lost  control  of  her  voice.  It  was 
high  and  shrill  in  the  dank,  misty  air.  "I  will  not  per- 

258 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

mit  you  to  enter.  I  warn  you  of  the  consequences  if 
you  set  foot  on  that  veranda.  You  will  all  bear  wit 
ness,"  she  added,  as  if  she  addressed  an  unseen  group 
within. 

The  feint,  gallant-hearted  as  it  was,  failed  of  con 
viction.  The  spokesman,  openly  scornful,  disdained 
response  other  than  threats.  "The  Miss'ippi  River  is 
mighty  convenient,  here." 

" 'T  ain't  gone  dry  noways  that  I  can  see,"  said 
the  pert  wit  of  the  party,  and  there  was  a  tumult 
of  chuckling  and  shaking  shoulders  in  the  boat. 

"  We  have  a  lot  of  rope  handy,"  the  spokesman 
continued,  holding  up  a  coil  in  his  hand,  his  hard 
face  white  and  fierce  against  the  gray  waters  and 
lowering  sky.  "  Look  at  them  iron  vases  !  " — the  rims 
of  the  great  lawn  ornaments,  six  in  number,  showed 
above  the  surface  of  the  swirling  waters,  where  they 
stood  at  the  end  of  the  broad  walk  and  at  the  inter 
sections  of  the  driveways  on  either  side  of  the  mansion. 
"They  will  make  capital  weights,  enough  to  sink 
every  soul  in  the  house,  —  the  three  boys,  old  man 
Stanlett,  yerself,  and  even  that  big  fat  nigger  cook- 
woman,  for  that  is  all  ye  have  got  in  the  house,  — 
sink  ye,  every  one;  the  Miss'ippi  River  is  one  hun- 
derd  and  eighty  feet  deep  in  Deepwater  Bend,  even 
at  low  water."  He  shook  his  head  ominously,  and 
the  rills  of  rain  ran  off  the  wide  slouched  brim  of 
his  hat  with  the  sinister  energy  of  his  motion. 
"Never  be  heard  tell  of  no  more,  —  if  ye  don't  see 
yer  way  fco  accommodate  us  with  the  order  and  the 
key." 

259 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

And,  sooth  to  say,  if  she  should!  There  was  no 
alternative.  It  was  only  a  subterfuge  of  inducement. 
Desmond's  blood  ran  cold.  He  perceived  in  aghast  dis 
may  the  symmetry  and  perfection  of  the  plan  of  the 
miscreants.  They  had  doubtless  made  sure  of  the  ab 
sence  from  the  plantation  of  the  manager,  who  was  in 
Vicksburg  on  a  business  trip,  and  of  the  visit  of  the  tutor 
to  Dryad-Dene,  before  they  ventured  to  cut  the  levee. 
The  inundation  of  the  plantation  quarter  with  its  flimsy 
low  houses  menaced  its  inhabitants,  especially  women 
and  children,  with  drowning,  and  would  draw  to  its 
succor  every  available  man  from  the  stanch  mansion 
house,  which  was  amply  able  to  cope  with  floods. 
When  the  servants  should  return,  the  absence  of  the 
family  would  be  accounted  for  variously  in  their  minds 
and  without  apprehension  of  evil :  some  passing  steam 
boat  might  have  responded  to  a  signal  and  sent  out 
a  yawl  to  assist  them  to  a  refuge  in  Natchez  or  Mem 
phis,  there  to  abide  till  the  overflow  should  abate; 
some  neighbor,  the  Kentopps,  the  Mayberrys,  per 
chance  still  on  dry  ground  themselves,  might  have 
come  and  delivered  them  from  their  inundated  domi 
cile.  There  would  be  no  one  among  the  tenants  and 
servants  left  in  authority,  no  one  fitted  to  act.  Days 
might  well  elapse  before  aught  would  be  suspected. 
The  order  upon  the  bankers  would  be  duly  honored ; 
the  fence  in  New  Orleans  —  for  doubtless  in  an  affair 
of  such  magnitude  the  robbers  were  provided  with  a 
respectable  seeming  deus  ex  machina,  some  shyster  at 
the  bar,  some  trickster  of  a  loan  agent,  some  default 
ing  bank  official  on  the  eve  of  detection  and  flight  — 

260 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

would  be  upon  the  high  seas  with  the  famous  emer 
alds,  before  the  Faurie  mystery,  as  the  disappearance 
of  the  family  would  be  called,  should  set  the  river 
country  agog  with  horror  and  baffled  wonder  and 
impotent  despair. 

Desmond's  strong  head  was  dizzy;  his  stout  heart 
fluttered  as  he  realized  the  peril  and  the  tenuous  pos 
sibility  of  succor, — a  single  hair  to  which  he  might 
cling,  the  fraction  of  a  minute  of  time!  If  only  he 
could  enter  the  house  first!  From  without  he  could 
hope  for  naught.  He  could  not  cope  here  with  six 
brutal  and  hardened  villains,  doubtless  the  miscreants 
who  had  wrought  robbery  and  arson  and  malignant 
murder  in  the  tragedy  at  Whippoorwill  Landing.  He 
could  not  show  himself  here,  for  he  would  only  sac 
rifice  his  life,  worth  more  at  this  moment  than  ever 
before,  —  than  it  could  be  again.  He  dared  riot  shoot 
from  ambush;  for  a  failure  of  aim  would  result  fatally 
to  her,  to  him,  to  all  in  the  house.  He  could  not  ven 
ture  to  step  on  the  veranda,  lest  his  footfall  be  heard 
or  even  his  form  be  dimly  descried  from  the  yawl 
continually  oscillating  to  and  fro. 

Oh,  for  one  impulse  of  courage  in  that  fainting  femi 
nine  heart!  Could  she  but  rally  her  forces  to  with 
stand  their  demand,  to  brave  their  hideous  threat,  to 
hold  them  in  parley  but  one  moment  longer.  His  own 
heart  leaped  as  he  heard  her  voice  again.  It  was  full 
of  quavering  vibrations,  high  and  shrill  and  strangely 
out  of  tune.  But  she  spoke  stanchly  and  with  the 
poise  of  dignity.  "  This  is  my  house.  I  forbid  you  to 
set  foot  in  it, — to  trespass  one  inch  on  this  veranda. 

261 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

I  warn  you  that  I  shall  not  be  answerable  for  the 
consequences.  I  call  you  all  to  witness,"  she  seemed 
to  address  the  group  within.  "  And  I  have  help  at 
hand." 

She  uttered  the  words  with  such  apparent  confi 
dence  in  the  midst  of  her  direful  extremity  that  they 
seemed  to  carry  somewhat  of  conviction,  to  stir  the 
suspicion,  the  cowardice  of  the  marauders.  They  did 
not  at  once  move  forward,  but  hung  as  it  were  in  the 
wind  on  the  oscillating  water. 

It  was  a  failure  of  judgment  which  induced  her 
on  noting  the  effect  of  her  words  to  repeat  them,  for 
instantly  interpreting  them  as  a  bluff,  the  oars  struck 
the  water  and  the  craft  moved  forward.  "  I  have  help," 
she  piteously  repeated.  "  I  have  help  at  hand." 

"  You  have,  —  you  have,  indeed !  "  Desmond's 
heart  responded,  for  his  plan  was  perfected  in  those 
few  minutes  of  final  parley.  He  let  the  dugout  drift 
away  while  he  caught  the  drooping  branches  of  the 
live-oak  tree  that  swept  the  surface  of  the  water. 
The  stir  of  the  foliage,  as  with  his  rifle  he  clambered 
through  the  boughs,  was  not  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  rustling  of  the  wind.  He  lifted  the  sash  of 
one  of  the  dormer  windows  and  was  safe  in  a  room 
he  had  never  seen.  A  wan  gleam  of  the  twilight  fell 
through  the  glass,  barely  enough  to  disclose  the  sur 
roundings,  for  the  window  was  curtained  with  some 
floriated  opaque  stuff.  An  unused  room  it  apparently 
was,  with  an  unfurnished  bed,  a  few  chairs,  a  table, 
and  in  the  jamb  of  the  chimney  on  either  side  tall 
presses  built  in  the  wall,  one  of  which  stood  half 

262 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

open  and  was  seemingly  full  of  bundles  of  papers. 
A  mere  glance  afforded  these  details  as  he  dashed 
to  the  door.  It  gave  easily  under  his  touch;  he  had 
had  one  dreadful  moment,  faint  with  fear,  lest  it 
might  prove  to  be  locked.  He  was  still  trembling  as 
he  groped  along  the  dark  hall,  his  weapon  in  hand. 
He  paused  for  an  instant  at  the  head  of  the  unfa 
miliar,  vaguely  descried  stairs,  feeling  with  his  foot 
for  the  edge  of  the  first  of  the  flight. 

He  could  hardly  control  his  agitation,  his  wonder, 
as  he  heard  a  strange,  muffled  stir,  that  sibilant,  lisp 
ing  step  on  the  stair  which  he  remembered  from  the 
early  days  of  his  stay  at  Great  Oaks  Plantation,  the 
silken  sound  of  the  invisible  patrol. 


CHAPTER  XII 

AT  shook  his  nerve,  strained  to  the  tension  of  break 
ing.  But  he  rallied  his  faculties.  This  was  no  time 
for  vague  terrors,  for  theories,  for  hesitation.  He 
moved  on  swiftly,  silently.  Nevertheless,  as  he  hurried 
down  the  dark  flight,  he  could  have  sworn  he  passed 
some  mute  presence,  some  sense  of  moving. 

He  burst  into  the  dim  twilight  of  the  parlor,  but 
still  without  a  sound.  There  were  two  figures  at  the 
window,  infinitely  incongruous  of  aspect  with  the 
scene  without,  with  the  frightful  crisis,  with  the  immi 
nence  of  their  danger.  Both  were  dressed  with  some 
touch  of  elegance  for  the  evening;  Reginald  with  an 
incipient  relish  for  his  own  good  points,  and  in  the  wan 
light  from  the  window  and  the  dark  shadows  within 
the  room  Mrs.  Faurie  was  like  some  antique  picture, 
her  gown  of  a  light  Pompeian-red  silk,  of  a  quasi-Em 
pire  effect,  a  girdle  of  dark  red  velvet,  and  a  guimpe 
of  thick,  fine  white  lace  to  the  throat,  —  yet  robbery, 
arson,  murder,  faced  her  at  the  moment.  Reginald, 
pale  with  a  realization  of  his  helplessness,  neverthe 
less  stoutly  stood  his  ground,  his  arm  around  her  waist. 

Without  a  thought,  Desmond  passed  his  arm  around 
her  from  the  other  side.  "  Be  quiet,  be  very  quiet.  I 
am  here,"  he  said  in  a  low  tone. 

Her  head  drooped  on  his  shoulder  and  she  burst 
into  tears.  "  How  I  have  wished  for  you  !  How  I 
have  prayed  for  you  !  "  she  murmured. 

264 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  I  am  here  !  I  am  here  !  "  he  said  again  and  again. 
He  could  only  repeat  these  words.  The  fact  rilled  the 
universe. 

He  was  cool,  confident,  triumphant,  despite  the 
desperate  odds,  despite  the  awful  responsibility  that 
hung  upon  his  judgment.  He  made  his  preparations 
without  an  instant's  flutter.  He  waited  the  significant 
moment  without  a  pulse  of  impatience. 

Mrs.  Faurie,  quieted,  reassured,  in  perfect  confi 
dence  did  as  he  bade  her.  She  stood  well  up  against 
the  wall  under  the  folds  of  the  long  and  heavy  silken 
curtains,  while  he  placed  himself  in  front  of  the 
window,  too  far  withdrawn  for  his  presence  to  be 
suggested  in  the  dim  light.  Not  until  the  yawl  had 
almost  reached  the  steps,  not  until  several  of  the  men 
had  risen  to  spring  upon  the  veranda,  did  he  raise 
his  rifle  and  fire.  For  one  moment  the  flash,  the 
smoke,  the  report,  —  deafening  in  the  restricted  space 
of  the  room,  —  were  the  only  elements  that  could 
claim  attention.  The  next  instant  the  result  was  ap 
parent.  That  accurate  aim,  that  steady  hand,  that 
cool  nerve,  had  come  to  Desmond  as  gifts,  unknown 
until  to-day.  The  ball  crashed  into  the  skull  of  the 
red-headed,  thick-set  man  he  had  recognized  as  Jed 

9  O 

Knoxton.  He  swayed  to  and  fro  for  a  moment,  then 
fell  like  a  stone  into  the  water,  leaving  the  yawl 
violently  rocking,  and  the  rowers  doing  all  they  could 
to  prevent  her  from  capsizing. 

The  return  fire  came  whizzing  through  the  window, 
but  Desmond  had  stepped  aside  and  the  ball  crashed 
against  a  mirror  on  the  opposite  wall.  The  yawl's 

265 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

party  seemed  to  have  recovered  from  the  surprise  at 
finding  a  defense  attempted  for  the  house,  expected 
to  be  so  easy  a  prey.  They  gave  no  heed  to  the  wel- 
terin^s  and  writ hin^s  of  Jed  Knoxton  in  the  water  at 

o  o 

their  very  gunwales,  not  able  to  recover  himself,  and 
yet  not  dead,  until  at  last  the  relentless  Mississippi 
drowned  out  the  flickerings  of  life  that  the  rifle  had 
failed  to  extinguish. 

Once  more,  as  they  approached,  this  time  with  a 
heady  rush,  the  rifle  got  in  its  work.  One  of  the  as 
sailants  sank  down  on  the  very  steps  of  the  veranda, 
and  the  blood  flowed  higher  than  the  palpitant  waves. 
An  attack  from  an  unexpected  quarter  further  de 
moralized  them.  A  charge  of  buckshot  from  the  win 
dow  across  the  hall  rattled  against  the  timbers  of 
the  yawl  —  with  not  the  best  aim  in  the  world,  it  is 
true.  Reginald  had  been  stationed  there  in  the  short 
interval  with  a  shotgun  which  happened  to  be  in  the 
hall,  and  which  Desmond  hurriedly  loaded,  directing 
him  to  blaze  away  at  random,  being  careful,  as  Regi 
nald  loved  to  tell  afterward,  to  warn  him  to  keep 
from  between  the  muzzle  of  the  gun  and  himself  ! 

The  apparent  demonstration  of  adequate  force  to 
make  good  the  defense  of  the  house  was  too  much 
for  the  nerve  of  the  river  pirates.  The  yawl  was  no 
longer  water-tight ;  the  buckshot  had  riven  the  wood, 
here  and  there,  old  and  rotten.  It  was  filling  fast,  and 
this  fact  threatened  their  safe  retreat.  They  had  inti 
mations  of  more  pressing  personal  interests  than  had 
centred  in  Mrs.  Faurie's  famous  emeralds.  Suddenly 
putting  about,  they  disappeared  in  the  mist,  leaving 

266 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

one  of  their  comrades  drowned  in  six  feet  of  water  at 
the  bottom  of  the  veranda  steps,  and  another  lying 
on  the  floor,  apparently  dying,  the  blood  flowing 
from  his  mouth  and  tinging  all  the  waves  as  they 
lapped  about  with  a  deeper  hue  than  the  copper  tint 
of  the  great  river. 

It  would  seem  that  no  cheer  of  evening  could  ensue 
on  so  grisly  a  primordium  of  horrors.  Honoria  Faurie 
wrung  her  hands  as  she  reflected,  appalled,  that  a 
man  had  met  a  terrible  doom  at  her  door,  and  his 
bloating  corpse  still  lay  at  the  foot  of  the  steps  to 
await  there  the  action  of  the  coroner's  jury,  and  that 
another  had  stretched  his  lacerated  body  on  her  ve 
randa  to  die  a  lingering  death.  But  Desmond  seemed 
to  have  no  affinity  or  toleration  for  shuddering  or 
tears.  He  came  and  went  noisily,  ordering  fires  to  be 
rebuilt  in  the  library  and  parlor.  When  Bob  reap 
peared,  having  made  the  transit  from  the  quarter  in 
an  old  dugout,  the  footman  was  aghast  to  hear  the 
startling  news. 

"  Ought  to  have  been  here,  Bob ;  you  missed  the 
time  of  your  life ! "  cried  Desmond,  cheerily.  "  Oh, 
it  was  great !  And  Mr.  Reginald  Faurie  is  a  man, 
all  right,  and  don't  you  forget  it.  Equal  to  downing 
any  kind  of  pirate !  Pretty  nearly  sunk  their  yawl 
for  them.  They  will  all  knuckle  down  to  Great  Oaks, 
after  this.  We  are  the  pirate  tamers  here." 

Mrs.  Faurie  had  sunk  into  a  chair  before  the  dead 
ashes  of  the  parlor  fire,  her  face  pallid,  her  chest 
heaving,  her  hands  nerveless. 

"  I  wish  you  would  give  me  a  little  brandy/'  Des- 

267 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

mond  said  to  her,  "  and  you  would  be  the  better  for 
what  Colonel  Kentopp  calls  '  a  weeny  teeny  nip/  your 
self."  She  walked  with  him  to  the  dining-room,  where 
he  detained  her  upon  the  pretext  that  he,  himself, 
wanted  to  order  the  belated  dinner. 

"  I  need  a  good  dinner,"  he  said.  "  I  have  hardly 
had  a  bite  since  a  daylight  breakfast." 

The  cook  was  summoned,  an  immense  woman,  so 
tall  and  so  fat  that  she  was  apparently  immovable. 
She  had  been  in  the  house  throughout  the  turmoils. 
If  the  skies  should  fall,  she  would  continue  to  sit 
in  the  open  kitchen  window  and  await  events.  She 
seemed  to  do  nothing  but  sit  on  the  sill  of  the  kitchen 
window,  but  when  she  did  move  it  must  have  been 
to  the  purpose,  for  she  was  a  famous  expert,  —  of  an 
unparalleled  excellence.  So  long  did  they  discuss  each 
dish  and  compare  views  and  criticise  sauces  that  Mrs. 
Faurie  could  scarcely  compose  herself  to  wait  and 
listen  to  these  trivial  details.  It  was  a  distinct  hint 
when  she  sank  into  a  chair  at  one  side  of  the  old- 
fashioned  mahogany  table,  the  cloth  not  yet  laid, 
and  put  her  dimpled  elbows  on  the  glittering  dark 
red  surface  and  supported  her  chin  in  her  clasped 
hands ;  while  Desmond,  still  booted  and  spurred  and 
holding  his  brandy  glass,  stood  before  the  sideboard, 
and  the  cook  filled  the  doorway,  beaming  with  smiles 
upon  a  gentleman  who  knew  so  well  how  to  appre 
ciate  the  delicate  miracles  of  her  art. 

When  at  last  the  menu  was  settled,  he  turned  for 
its  approval  to  Mrs.  Faurie. 

"  Oh,  how  can  you  think  of  such  things  at  such  a 

268 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

moment "  —  and  she  shook  her  head  to  and  fro  while 
the  ready  tears  came  — "  with  a  man  dying  at  my 
door  and  another  dead  !  " 

"  The  dying  man  is  very  comfortable  upstairs  in 
a  nice  clean  room  and  a  fresh,  tidy  bed,  where  Bob 
and  Seth  have  no  doubt  put  him  by  this  time,  as  I 
ordered.  And  the  other  man  got  his  deserts,  as  no 
doubt  Providence  intended  he  should.  We  are  not 
going  to  sentimentalize  about  them.  On  the  con 
trary,  we  are  going  to  ask  for  the  thanksgiving  for 
special  mercies  to  us  to  be  said  in  the  public  prayers 
in  our  little  neighborhood  church  next  Sunday,  and 
I  should  think  you  would  write  to  the  rector  at  once 
so  that  the  request  may  be  received  in  time.  Go  into 
the  library,  won't  you  ?  and  write  the  note  at  my  desk, 
—  the  fire  must  be  blazing  there, —  while  I  dress  for 
dinner." 

"Do  you  have  to  take  the  trouble  to  dress  for 
dinner?" 

He  spread  out  his  hands  in  dismay.  "  Do  you  want 
me  to  come  to  the  table  like  this,  —  with  my  boots 
full  of  water  and  all  over  mud  ?  " 

She  still  sat  at  the  table  and  looked  at  him  through 
her  tears,  realizing  his  vital  aid,  his  courageous  rescue 
at  the  most  crucial  moment  of  her  life.  But  his  little 
devices  to  divert  her  mind,  to  sustain  her  composure, 
to  prevent  a  morbid  reaction  of  sensibility,  all  of 
which  she  appreciated,  touched  her  in  a  different  way. 
The  one  was  essential  salvation,  but  the  other  had  so 
tender,  so  careful,  so  individual  a  thought  for  her. 

"You  are  so  dear!"  she  said  abruptly;  "I  shall 

269 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

never  call  you  'Mr.  Desmond*  any  more.  What  is 
your  Christian  name?  Yes,  Edward.  You  are  my 
dear,  dear  Edward  ;  like  a  dear,  dear  son  ! " 

As  she  sat  at  his  desk  in  the  library,  she  was  sur 
prised  to  find  how  she  liked  to  be  there.  She  wrote 
her  note,  and  wept  some  happy  tears  of  gratitude  over 
the  occurrence  which  had  taken  on  the  aspect  of  a 
merciful  deliverance  rather  than  a  tragedy ;  she  lin 
gered,  fingering  the  little  objects  of  chirographical 
use  that  belonged  to  him  —  the  paper-weigh t,  the 
pen,  the  blotter-holder  —  and  thinking  of  his  thought 
for  her.  But  for  the  wholesome  influence  of  his  sound 
intellect  her  nerves  would  be  shattered  by  the  reac 
tion,  she  would  endure  agonies  of  foolish  regret  and 
terror ;  she  would  not  now  have  this  glow  of  earnest 
love  to  God  and  confidence  and  gratitude  that  made 
her  heart  so  warm.  Yet  her  equanimity  was  not  en 
tirely  restored,  and  she  had  a  sentiment  of  recoil 
when  Mr.  Stanlett  brought  a  very  pallid,  harassed, 
and  tremulous  face  to  the  window  and  looked  in ; 
then  entered  by  the  long  sash. 

"  I  am  hunting  for  you,  Honoria,"  he  said  in  a 
strained,  husky  voice.  "  I  am  much  worried." 

"  There  is  no  need,  Uncle  Clarence."  She  was  sur 
prised  by  her  full,  steady  tones.  "  Edward  Desmond 
will  attend  to  all  these  troubles.  See  what  a  miracle 
he  wrought  to-day,  by  the  favor  of  God.  We  were  at 
the  end  of  our  capacity  even  to  hope." 

"Yes — but,  Honoria,"  the  old  man  leaned  for 
ward  as  he  stood  and  laid  an  impressive  finger  upon 
the  edge  of  the  desk.  "  This  man,  Desmond, —  I  had 

270 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

forgotten  his  name  was  Edward,  if  I  ever  knew  it, — 
he  takes  a  deal  on  himself !  Without  a  word  to  any 
body,  he  ordered  this  marauder  to  be  put  in  the  blue 
room  upstairs.  And  there  he  is  now — in  the  blue 
room ! " 

She  stared  at  him  in  amaze.  "And  why  not  the 
blue  room  as  well  as  any  other?" 

He  shook  his  head,  and  with  a  gesture  of  despair 
struck  his  high,  bony  forehead  with  his  outstretched 
palm. 

"I  forget !   I  forget!  You  do  not  know!" 

She  looked  at  him  steadily,  sternly,  for  a  moment. 

"What  is  it  I  do  not  know,  Uncle  Clarence?" 

He  had  come  around  the  desk  and  sat  down  on  a 
sofa  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  crackling  fire.  It  was 
necessary  to  turn  in  her  chair  to  face  him,  and  she 
looked  over  her  shoulder  at  him  as  she  sat  at  the  desk. 
He  met  her  eyes  miserably,  with  a  detected,  hang 
dog  look,  but  he  had  closed  his  lips  resolutely;  she 
saw  that  he  would  say  no  more.  His  face  was  blood 
less,  deathlike  in  its  pallor.  He  looked  very  old,  with 
his  spare  frame,  his  clear-cut,  bony  lineaments,  his 
thin,  silver  hair. 

There  is  something  infantile  in  the  infirmities  of 
age.  It  touched  her  maternal  spirit.  No  one  was 
making  enough  of  Uncle  Clarence, —  he  had  been 
neglected.  He,  too,  was  to-day  greatly  threatened 
by  overpowering  odds;  and  a  man  disabled  by  age 
and  infirmity  must  feel  an  appalling  helplessness,  a 
pathetic  shame,  to  be  no  longer  of  force,  of  availing 
courage  in  the  face  of  physical  danger,  a  source  of 

271 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

refuge  and  protection  to  the  weak.  And  so  great  had 
been  the  peril,  of  so  terrible  an  aspect,  that  it  might 
well  have  touched  his  intellect  for  the  time  being. 
She  did  not  press  for  his  answer,  albeit  she  was  of  an 
imperious  spirit  and  not  accustomed  to  have  her  will 
gainsaid  or  her  words  set  at  naught.  She  rose  and 
advanced  toward  him,  pained  to  see  how  he  cringed 
at  the  idea  of  her  persistence  while  he  yet  massed  his 
pitiful  resources,  his  face  hardening,  his  eyes  aglow 
with  an  excited  gleam,  yet  terrorized  lest  his  steadfast 
ness  fail.  He  watched  with  doubt  and  expectancy, 
like  a  beast  at  bay,  as  she  sat  down  beside  him  and 
laid  her  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"  Don't  be  troubled,  Uncle  Clarence,"  she  said,  in 
a  dulcet  tone.  "You  are  hardly  yourself,  you  have 
been  put  through  so  much  agitation  and  suspense 
to-day." 

He  glanced  at  her  ever  and  anon  with  excited 
and  furtive  eyes,  and  moistened  his  lips,  but  kept 
silence. 

"I  will  ask  no  questions  that  you  do  not  want  to 
answer."  She  passed  one  of  her  soft  white  arms  around 
his  wrinkled  old  neck,  feeling  it  stiff  and  rigid  with 
his  tense  resolve.  Then  she  laid  her  cheek  on  his 
shoulder.  "I  love  you  so  much.  I  can't  endure  to 
see  you  worried." 

"  It  is  just  for  you,  Honoria.  Just  for  you,"  he 
protested  huskily. 

"  Don't  worry  for  me,  I  feel  so  happy  to-m'ght — 
so  happy!  as  if  I  had  the  world  in  a  sling  !  I  think 
it  so  strange.  To-night  —  of  all  the  nights  in  the 

272 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

year !  I  suppose  it  is  because  we  had  such  an  escape." 
Yet  when  she  thought  of  the  escape,  she  shuddered. 

"  I  am  much  worried,  Honoria.  The  —  blue  — 
room ! " 

"  If  you  loved  me  as  much  as  I  love  you,  you 
would  not  worry.  Think,  Uncle  Clarence,  how  much 
we  are  to  each  other,  —  almost  like  father  and 
daughter.  We  ought  to  stand  by  each  other." 

"  That 's  why,  Honoria,  I  have  taken  my  course. 
For  you,  my  dear !  And  —  the  —  blue  —  room  !  " 

"  Let  it  pass  for  the  time,  Uncle  Clarence,  —  for  the 
moment.  We  will  ask  Mr.  Desmond  if  the  man  can 
be  moved  without  injury,  and  set  your  mind  at  rest ; 
though  for  my  life  I  can't  see  that  the  blue  room 
is  less  to  be  desecrated  by  his  presence  than  any 
other." 

He  held  his  lips  together  once  more  as  if  afraid  of 
disclosure,  and  sat  stiff,  immovable,  furtively  glancing 
about  with  absorbed  eyes ;  and  as  she  with  maternal 
patience  drew  her  soft  arm  closer  about  his  neck, 
her  head  on  his  shoulder,  the  glow  of  the  shaded  lamp 
and  the  flaring1  fire  on  the  rich  tints  of  her  dress,  her 

O  f 

beautv  embellished  by  her  softened  expression,  the 
two  were  a  charming  illustration  of  reverend  age  and 
filial  youth  when  Desmond,  freshly  groomed  once 
more;  stood  a  moment  by  the  window  ere  he  entered 
by  the  sash. 

Desmond  was  in  no  mood  for  concessions.  He  had 
assumed  control  of  the  household,  and  he  had  a  strong 
if  not  a  heavy  hand.  He  declined  at  once  to  interfere 
with  the  wounded  man. 

273 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  It  might  be  as  much  as  his  life  is  worth  to  move 
him.  I  am  not  competent  to  judge.  I  am  not  willing 
to  risk  it." 

Her  sympathies  went  out  to  the  old  man,  inade 
quate  to  cope  with  this  masterful,  youthful  usurper. 

"  Uncle  Clarence  seems  to  desire  it,"  she  said,  not 
without  emphasis. 

"  I  cannot  imagine  a  reason  sufficient  to  jeopardize 
the  man's  life,"  Desmond  rejoined. 

"  I  am  not  informed,  sir,  by  what  theory  I  am  to 
submit  my  reasons  to  you,"  said  Mr.  Stanlett,  with 
stately  and  satiric  dignity. 

"Oh,  Uncle  Clarence,"  —  Mrs.  Faurie  started  up  in 
alarmed  remonstrance,  —  "  think  what  we  owe  to  Mr. 
Desmond —  how  grateful  we  should  be  !  " 

"  That  is  neither  here  nor  there,"  said  Desmond, 
maintaining-  his  placidity.  "  You  are  the  arbiter  of 
events  here,  Mrs.  Faurie,  but  you  must  not  suffer  this 
man  to  be  moved,  and  perhaps  sacrifice  his  life  —  >J 

"  Heavens  —  no  !  "  she  interpolated. 

"  —  Especially  before  lie  can  be  interrogated  by  the 
authorities.  The  information  he  may  give  will  cause 
the  apprehension  and  the  breaking  up  of  this  gang 
of  river  pirates,  and  avoid  the  accomplishment  of  such 
disasters  as  menaced  this  house  to-day." 

He  turned  toward  Mr.  Stanlett,  who  had  risen  and 
stood  stiffly,  a  sort  of  blight  on  his  face,  at  one  side 
of  the  low,  old-fashioned  marble  mantel.  "  I  am  dis 
turbed  to  differ  with  you,  Mr.  Stanlett,  to  urge  my 
views  against  your  preference  when  you  have  been 
so  kind  to  me." 

274 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  My  kindness  is  returned  in  a  way  I  had  not  an 
ticipated,"  said  Mr.  Stanlett,  coldly. 

"  Oh,  Uncle  Clarence,  I  protest.  Don't  mind  it, 
Edward !  "  She  smiled  and,  leaning  over,  patted  Des 
mond  maternally  on  the  coat-sleeve. 

"  I  do  mind  it  very  much  —  to  incur  Mr.  Stanlett' s 
disapproval.  But,  my  dear  sir,  it  will  be  only  for  a 
short  time.  The  officers  will  reach  here  in  the  morn 
ing.  I  have  sent  Jacob  off  in  a  dugout  with  an  im 
perative  note  to  the  constable  and  the  coroner ;  they 
must  come.  If  the  man  can  be  moved,  he  will  be  taken 
to  jail ;  at  all  events,  he  can't  be  long  dying  with  that 
hole  bored  through  his  lungs.  Then  the  blue  room 
will  be  once  more  at  your  service." 

"At  my  service  I "  the  old  man  sneered.  "You  know 
nothing  about  it !  You  only  show  your  ignorance." 

The  announcement  of  the  belated  dinner  put  an 
end  to  the  discussion,  and  as  they  filed  out,  Mrs. 
Faurie's  face  was  pale  and  drawn  and  altogether  un 
like  itself.  But  Desmond  seemed  in  high  spirits.  He 
begged  pardon  for  asking  for  a  cocktail  before  the 
soup,  and  he  praised  a  certain  different  combination 
so  that  Mr.  Stanlett  requested  that  a  glass  be  mixed 
for  him,  remonstrating  sharply  against  any  dilution, 
when  Desmond  good-naturedly  diverted  his  interest 
by  reminding  him  of  the  classical  apportionment  of 
water  with  wine,  smilingly  quoting  "Hail,  Dionysus : 
are  you  Five-and-two?"  The  mixture  proved  suffi 
ciently  potent,  and  sent  the  blood  to  the  old  gentle 
man's  pale  cheeks  and  brought  out  a  gentle  dew  on 
his  forehead,  and  predisposed  him  to  enjoy  and  digest 

275 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

his  dinner,  to  postpone  his  unrevealed  trouble,  and 
to  bope  for  tbe  best. 

Desmond  developed  a  spirit  of  gossip.  He  re 
counted  the  details  of  the  house-party  at  Dryad- 
Dene,  and  Mrs.  Faurie  and  Mr.  Stanlett  laughed, 
though  slyly,  at  Chub,  who  seemed  to  think  that 
Desmond  had  committed  a  great  impropriety  in  men 
tioning  Miss  Allandyce's  boyish  equestrian  costume 
and  describing  his  embarrassment  that  he  did  not 
later  recognize  her  when  accoutred  in  white  silk  skirts. 
Reginald  and  Horace  indulged  in  great  hilarity  at 
this  demonstration  of  the  prudish  Chub,  and  Mr. 
Stanlett  was  immensely  "  tickled  "  by  the  description 
of  Loring's  sufferings  because  of  the  unwelcome 
reminiscences  of  the  old  wood-chopper,  Sloper,  con 
cerning  the  millionaire's  family. 

"  Shows  just  what  a  snob  Loring  has  graduated 
into,"  said  Mr.  Stanlett,  his  face  now  pink  from  Clos 
Vougeot,  the  blue  room  forgotten.  "  His  parents 
were  most  reputable,  educated,  respected  people,  even 
if  they  were  not  well  off,  and  the  only  reason  they 
were  ever  acquainted  with  such  a  party  as  Sloper,  as 
every  one  knows,  is  that  in  this  sparsely  populated 
country  everybody  is  acquainted  with  everybody  else. 
But  social  differences  are  now  and  always  have  been 
rigorously  maintained." 

He  had  a  keen  commercial  interest  in  Desmond's 
detail  of  Regnan's  suspicions  that  the  house-party 
had  been  made  up  to  show  Dryad-Dene  to  advantage 
to  Mr.  Loring,  with  charming  young  people  in  gala 
attire  enlivening  all  its  highly  decorated  apartments, 

276 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

and  how  Regnan  resented  the  idea  that  he  had  danced 
not  for  his  own  pleasure,  but  like  a  trained  dog,  for 
a  purpose. 

Mrs.  Faurie  dimpled  and  beamed,  and  asked  him 
how  the  ladies  looked  and  what  they  wore,  now  and 
then  checking  his  description  with  the  exclamation 
"  Impossible ! "  and  setting  him  to  rights  with  apt 
conjectures  as  to  fabrics  and  styles. 

"  If  I  were  mamma,  I  'd  give  a  house-party  that 
would  mash  the  Kentopps  flat,"  said  Chub,  sturdily. 
"  I  'd  have  up  a  lot  of  swell  guys  from  New  Orleans 
and  down  from  St.  Louis  and  Memphis,  and  then  I  'd 
open  the  ballroom  and  dance  all  one  day  and  one 
night  on  a  stretch,  and  have  a  party  supper  and  din 
ner  and  breakfast,  —  and  leave  the  Kentopps  out !  " 

The  older  boys  collapsed  over  this  truculence  of 
the  vengeful  Chub  and  his  idea  of  a  fashionable 
entertainment.  Mrs.  Faurie  checked  him,  though 

'  O 

smiling.  "  Must  n't  bear  malice,  Chubby.  I  am  too 
old  for  a  young  people's  party." 

"  Prettier  'n  anybody,  ain't  she,  Mr.  Desmond  ?  " 
said  the  confident  Chub,  with  his  mouth  full  of  salad. 

To  the  tutor's  amazement,  he  flushed  to  the  roots  of 
his  hair  at  this  appeal.  He  felt  the  blood  mounting 
and  pulsing  as  it  rose,  but  he  was  ready  with  the  repe 
tition  of  Miss  Mayberry's  compliment  to  the  "  most 
beautiful  woman  in  the  world,"  albeit  he  doubted  his 
good  taste  in  the  rehearsal.  Mrs.  Faurie,  however, 
who  had  often  heard  similar  appraisements  of  her  at 
tractions,  took  the  remark  quite  simply,  and  was  ab 
sorbed  in  the  interest  of  recollecting  details  concerning 

277 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

this  Italian  count,  who  was  a  man  of  talent  and  high 
position,  and  whom  she  had  often  met  in  notable  cir 
cles  while  she  was  living  in  Paris.  This  brought  them 
to  a  harmonious  end  of  the  feast,  and  when  they  rose 
from  the  table,  Desmond  proposed  a  return  to  the 
parlor,  where  Mrs.  Faurie  countenanced  the  cigars, 
and  seated  herself  before  the  fire  in  a  great  fauteuil, 
her  Empire  gown  of  rich  yet  delicate  red  enhancing 
her  beauty,  her  eyes  fascinated  by  the  flames,  her 
lovely  neck  glimpsed  through  the  lace  guiinpe,  her 
quiet  respiration  rising  and  falling  calmly,  the  tumult 
of  fear  assuaged  that  had  shaken  her  heart  so  few 
hours  ago. 

Desmond  had  taken  his  station  on  one  end  of  the 
sofa,  where  Chubby  also  ensconced  himself,  for  out 
of  school  hours  he  had  developed  a  great  disposition 
to  loll  on  his  tormentor.  The  other  two  boys  had  seats 
here  too,  facing  the  window,  but  only  the  inconsid 
erate  youngest  spoke  out  his  sudden  surprise. 

"  Where  does  all  that  light  come  from  ?  " 

Mrs  Faurie  turned  her  head  apprehensively.  The 
verandas  were  under  a  steady  illumination,  and  for  a 
distance  the  murky  waters  of  the  overflow  showed  their 
constant,  sinister  palpitation. 

"  I  had  those  lamps  filled  and  the  brackets  fastened 
to  the  posts/'  Desmond  said  coolly.  "  I  found  them 
by  rummaging  around  upstairs.  I  suppose  they  must 
have  been  used  in  some  entertainment  in  the  house. 
There  were  some  reflectors,  too,  in  the  ballroom. " 

Mr.  Stanlett  raised  himself  in  his  chair,  his  cigar 
held  out  at  arm's  length. 

278 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  You  have  no  call  to  go  rummaging  around  the 
house.  It  —  it — is  outrageous!  It  is  —  is  —  intru- 
rive  ! " 

Mrs  Faurie  had  paled.  "  Do  you  anticipate  another 
attack  on  the  house  to-night?  "  she  asked  in  agitation. 

"  No,"  said  Desmond,  "  for  I  am  prepared  for  it." 

Beneath  his  gay  and  cheerful  exterior,  sustaining 
the  spirits  of  the  household  lest  the  palsy  of  panic 
overwhelm  them  and  bring  down  undreamed-of  dis 
aster,  Desmond  had  wrestled  with  some  sombre  fears, 
distressing  doubts,  troublous  paucity  of  resource. 
There  was  no  boat  due  to  pass,  or  he  would  have 
braved  the  maddening  floods  in  the  primitive  dugout 
to  put  Mrs.  Faurie  on  board.  He  had  thought  of  the 
neighbors,  to  ring  the  plantation  bell  and  summon 
aid.  But  the  neighbors  by  this  time  were  struggling 
with  the  overflow,  or  seeking  to  patch  sodden  and 
threatened  levees.  Their  own  families  were  exposed  to 
the  manifold  distresses  of  high  water,  and  the  very 
fact  that  marauders  were  abroad  had  homing  prompt 
ings.  Besides,  he  did  not  wish  thus  to  advertise  to  the 
river  pirates  that  the  Occupants  of  the  mansion  felt 
incapable  of  its  defense.  The  garrison  had  already 
demonstrated  its  efficiency;  the  pirates  no  doubt 
believed  that  they  had  been  misinformed  as  to  the 
unprotected  condition  of  the  house ;  and  though  Des 
mond  feared  an  attempt  at  the  rescue  of  the  wounded 
man,  in  order  that  he  might  not  turn  state's  evidence, 
inculpate  the  gang,  and  compass  their  capture,  he 
could  rely  only  on  such  means  as  had  been  equal  to 
the  emergency  in  the  afternoon,  hoping  that  this  would 

279 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

prove  adequate  to  whatever  the  night  might  bring 
forth.  The  idea  that  Mrs.  Faurie  was  the  focus  of  their 
schemes,  the  suggestion  of  wresting  from  her  an  order 
on  her  bankers  and  by  some  nefarious  plan  render 
ing  her  incapable  of  giving  the  alarm  till  it  should 
be  honored,  filled  him  with  dismay.  The  possibility 
suggested  abduction,  imprisonment,  even  murder. 
He  had  provided  against  surprise.  No  boat,  no  swim 
mer,  could  approach  the  house  without  becoming 
instantly  visible,  —  the  old  ballroom  lights  playing 
a  part  undreamed  of  in  their  festive  design.  He 
had  posted  one  of  the  most  reliable  of  the  house  ser 
vants  as  a  lookout  on  each  veranda,  and  a  relief  sat 
in  the  kitchen,  finding  royal  good  cheer  in  the  re 
mainder  of  the  big  dinner  he  had  ordered  with  this 
view.  His  rifle  was  loaded,  his  pistols  at  hand,  and 
Reginald  had  been  called  aside  and,  as  he  protested, 
given  some  points  concerning  the  best  method  of  dis 
tinguishing  the  muzzle  from  the  butt  of  the  gun.  He 
had  in  fact  been  taught  to  load,  aim,  cock  the  ham 
mer,  and  pull  the  trigger,  and  he  had  a  half  dozen 
buckshot  cartridges  in  his  pocket  as  he  lounged  on 
the  sofa. 

"  Won't  the  lights  attract  attention  and  make 
navigation  easy?"  she  asked. 

"  Perhaps ;  but  they  will  show  that  we  are  on  the 
alert  and  ready  for  all  comers,"  said  Desmond.  Then 
after  a  moment  of  hesitation,  "It  was  an  accident 
that  they  did  not  reach  the  veranda  before  I  did 
this  afternoon.  Now,  any  approach  would  be  detected 
at  a  considerable  distance/ ' 

280 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

Her  level  eyebrows  were  drawn.  "  I  had  hoped  the 
danger  was  over,"  she  said,  with  a  sort  of  plaintive 
patience. 

"  But  not  the  precautions,"  he  replied,  with  a  smile. 

"  Why  don't  we  have  up  some  of  the  tenants  from 
the  quarter?  they  could  spare  ten  or  twelve  men." 

He  did  not  tell  her  that  he  had  already  attempted 
a  levy  from  the  quarter,  and  that  the  tenants  had  re 
volted.  For  the  dead  flatboat-man  lay  alongside  the 
veranda  steps  with  a  dog  collar  and  chain  around  his 
neck,  to  keep  him  from  floating  away  while  awaiting 
the  coming-  of  the  coroner ;  this  Desmond  had  been 
compelled  to  attach  with  his  own  hands.  The  negroes 
did  not  so  much  fear  the  living  as  the  dead.  They 
would  not  undertake  to  touch  the  floating  body  and 
lift  it  to  the  shelter  and  security  of  the  veranda,  there 
to  await  the  coming  of  the  coroner ;  they  would  not 
wittingly  approach  the  house  so  long  as  it  was  there, 
—  nay,  until  it  should  be  removed  to  a  distance  and 
to  an  unknown  place.  They  did  not  believe  that  the 
pirates  would  dare  return,  and  were  not  actuated  by 
fear  of  them,  but  they  were  sure  that  Jed  Knoxton 
would  haunt  them  to  their  dying  day !  "  I  think 
they  are  perhaps  shy  of  meddling  in  our  feud,"  Des 
mond  replied  to  her  suggestion.  "  The  darkeys  al 
ways  seem  doubtful  as  to  whether  they  are  fairly  in 
structed  as  to  the  points  at  issue  in  any  disturbance 
among  white  people,  and  are  afraid  of  getting  into 
trouble  with  the  authorities.  They  would  merely  give 
the  sense  of  strength  in  numbers,  anyhow.  We  had 
enough,  to-day,  and  to  spare." 

281 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Nevertheless,  he  had  not  permitted  to  depart  those 
whose  vocation  had  caused  them  to  return  to  the 
mansion,  and  who,  upon  discovering  the  facts,  would 
have  been  glad  to  get  away  again.  They  were  fain 
to  reconcile  themselves  to  the  grim  necessity  as  best 
they  might.  The  old  butler,  whose  attachment  to  the 
family  dated  from  before  the  war,  a  man  of  experi 
ence  and  intelligence,  pinned  his  faith  to  the  Faurie 
banner  in  weal  or  woe.  He  smartly  admonished  Bob, 
his  son,  to  "  show  some  manners,"  when  the  footman 
was  insisting  upon  putting  a  goodly  quantity  of  the 
Mississippi  River  between  himself  and  the  locality 
where  such  dreadful  deeds  were  done  and  which  har 
bored  such  ghastly  visitants,  and  withdrawing  to  the 
quarter.  It  was  not  merely  that  the  old  butler  knew 
that  special  duty  rendered  in  time  of  stress  received 
a  special  and  proportionate  reward,  for  he  was  long 
past  his  prime  and  had  no  ambitions  disconnected 
with  an  aspect  of  distinction  in  the  Faurie  dinner 
service.  But  a  word  to  the  wise  Bob  was  sufficient. 
Though  under  constraint  indeed,  he  cheerfully  con 
sented  to  watch  in  turn  with  his  father  on  one  side 
of  the  house,  while  Desmond  and  Reginald  kept  a 
lookout  through  the  parlor  windows  from  the  front. 
The  cook  insisted  that  naught  could  approach  un 
discovered  from  the  east  while  she  sat  on  the  sill  of 
the  kitchen  window,  and  Seth,  the  old-time  hostler, 
who  dwelt  in  a  world  of  Houyhnhnms  and  rated  as 
slight  matters  any  disasters  that  did  not  concern  the 
frog  and  the  fetlock,  or  threaten  spavin  or  sprain, 
found  his  sympathy  with  mere  humanity  so  indurated 

282 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

by  disuse  as  to  be  able  to  stand  guard  over  the 
wounded  pirate  to  make  sure  that  he  did  not  attempt 
to  escape,  that  he  wanted  for  naught  in  comfort,  and 
that  no  shadowy  approach  was  made  toward  the  house 
upon  the  waters  viewed  from  the  dormer  window, 
from  the  hood  of  which  Seth  continually  scanned  the 
expanse. 

"  Too  many  people  make  confusion  and  get  into 
each  other's  way,"  Desmond  explained  to  Mrs.  Faurie. 
"  I  need  only  one  steady  lieutenant  like  Reginald 
here.  I  invited  Regnan  to  return  to  Great  Oaks  with 
me,  and  I  was  sorry  at  first  that  he  did  not  come. 
But  we  are  all  right  without  him." 

"  I  wish  I  could  shoot,"  plained  Chubby. 

"I  am  going  to  put  a  stop  to  this  mollycoddle 
business,  anyhow,"  said  Desmond,  waving  away  the 
smoke  from  his  cigar  and  looking  at  Mrs.  Faurie 
with  challenging,  laughing  eyes.  "  Just  as  soon  as 
we  get  out  of  our  ark,  I  am  going  to  have  regular 
target  practice  three  times  a  week,  and  teach  these 
boys  how  to  shoot,  and  then  we  will  borrow  Mr. 
Sloper's  dogs  and  go  on  a  camp  hunt  of  our  own." 

"  Oh,  little  Chubby,"  protested  Mrs.  Faurie,  while 
Chub  fairly  rolled  himself  into  a  ball  of  chuckling 
delight,  hugging  himself  as  if  he  felt  that  he  might 
fly  to  pieces  in  the  centrifugal  force  of  so  much 
ecstasy. 

"  Little  Chubby  is  a  good  plucked  one !  I  was 
proud  of  Chub  and  Horace,  —  to  stand  here  in  the 
parlor,  and  hold  still  without  a  word,  and  get  in  no 
body's  way,  and  make  no  confusion,  and  face  danger 

283 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

without  a  protest.  Oh,  this  is  a  great  day  for  the 
house  of  Faurie !  We  have  three  men  here,  rather 
small-sized  and  callow  as  yet,  —  but  men,  for  all 
that ! " 

"  Oh,  you  make  me  feel  so  proud  of  them  !  "  cried 
Mrs.  Faurie,  laughing  and  flushing  with  pleasure. 

Suddenly  a  drear  sound  —  knock !  knock  1  knock  ! 
at  the  front  of  the  house. 


CHAPTER  XEI 

.  FAUBIB  sprang  up  with  white  lips  and  a 
half  scream.  The  old  gentleman,  who  had  sunk  into 
a  placid  doze,  was  roused  from  slumber  to  vague  but 
terrible  fright. 

Knock !  knock !  knock !  again  reiterated  at  the 
door.  The  three  boys  gazed  in  questioning  suspense 
at  the  tutor's  face. 

"It  is  not"  —  Reginald  began  —  he  had  held 
the  chain  while  Desmond  locked  the  dog-collar  — 
"it  is  not — it  could  not  be  —  " 

"  Oh,  no  !  Impossible  !  "  cried  Desmond,  bewil 
dered  nevertheless,  and  at  a  loss. 

The  strain  of  the  events  of  the  evening  was  tell 
ing  on  the  tutor,  —  even  the  stress  of  the  effort  to 
sustain  the  equilibrium  of  the  household  was  making 
its  impression.  Some  moments  elapsed  before  his  mind 
could  evolve  a  conjecture,  a  reasonable  solution  of  the 
mystery,  and  all  the  time  the  heavy,  dull  knocking 
was  renewed  at  ominous  intervals. 

"  It  must  be  —  it  is — a  drift  log  ! "  he  exclaimed  at 
length.  "  No,  you  must  stay  here,"  he  insisted,  as  Mrs. 
Faurie  started  forward;  "Reginald  and  I  will  see." 

He  led  her  back  to  her  chair,  and  was  not  sorry 
that  he  had  done  so  when  he  opened  the  door  into 
the  hall  and  saw  there  all  the  negro  watchmen,  trem 
bling  and  agitated,  with  a  look  of  abject  terror 
shown  in  the  swinging  chandelier. 

285 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"No,  no!  Nathan,  —  I  am  astonished  at  you. 
You  know  that  a  dead  man  cannot  knock  at  the 
door !  No,  Bob !  You  can't  have  the  dugout.  I 
have  got  it  chained  and  padlocked.  If  you  leave  us 
here,  you  will  have  to  swim.  Seth  —  you,  too !  It 
must  be  a  drift  log.  I  am  going  to  see.  I  might 
have  been  afraid  of  that  man  alive,  but  I  have  got  a 
cinch  on  him,  sure,  now  that  he  is  dead.  Nobody  in 
the  house  knows  that  he  is  there,  but  Reginald  and 
me.  You  tell  that  fat  old  cook  in  the  kitchen  that 
the  Mississippi  River  has  n't  swept  him  away  from 
here,  or  that  the  other  pirates  did  n't  take  him  with 
them,  and  she  '11  die  of  fright.  I  should  want  no 
ghost  of  her  size  after  me,  if  I  were  you.  Keep  quiet 
here  and  I  '11  see." 

It  proved  to  be  a  drift  log,  and  with  the  aid  of 
a  stout  cane  Desmond  leaned  over  the  railing  and 
pushed  it  clear  of  the  entrance  to  the  house.  The 
body  of  the  flatboat-man  had  not  yet  risen,  and  as 
the  log  was  on  the  surface,  it  struck  against  the  floor 
of  the  veranda.  Unluckily,  as  it  floated  down  a  little 
farther  on,  it  caught  in  the  angle  between  the  floor 
ing  and  the  projection  of  the  steps,  and  there  it 
swung  on  the  oscillations  of  the  current,  —  knock, 
knock,  knock,  —  and  there  it  was  destined  to  hang 
and,  as  if  it  were  the  dead  man  clamoring  for  ad 
mittance,  knock,  knock,  knock  in  a  dull  monotone  at 
intervals  all  the  livelong  night. 

Desmond  could  not  rally  his  energies  again  for  a 
show  of  cheerful  spirits.  He  could  no  longer  direct 
the  trivial  conversation  and  evolve  ebullitions  of  satis- 

286 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

faction  and  pleasure.  Despite  his  gratitude  for  the 
crowning  mercy  of  his  rescue  of  the  household,  he 
had  a  sentiment  of  infinite  repugnance  for  the  taking 
of  life,  necessary,  justifiable,  even  laudable  though  it 
was.  That  dull  knock,  knock,  knocking  at  the  door 
where  lay  the  man  he  had  killed  beat  upon  more 
sensitive  nerves  than  he  had  yet  known  he  possessed, 
and  set  them  all  a-quiver. 

When  Desmond  induced  the  negroes  to  return  to 
their  posts,  old  Joel  made  a  great  show  of  self-ridicule 
and  abasement  that  so  little  a  matter  should  have 
shaken  his  equilibrium.  "  'Fore  Gawd,  boss,  I  done 
turned  fool,  fur  a  fack  !  Drift  log  !  Gawd  A'mighty ! 
I  wuz  cradled  in  a  drift  log  !  I  been  paddlin'  in  dug 
out  hollowed  out  'n  drift  log  dese  six  or  seben  hun- 
derd  years.  I  been  loadin'  up  an'  firin'  powder  fur 
Chris'mus  in  de  drift  log — Lawd  !  eber  sence  Noah 
fust  went  a-wadin'  in  de  overflow.  An'  now  —  done 
took  a  skeer  ob  a  drift  log  f  Ye-all  will  have  ter  hire 
somebody  to  wait  on  de  table  at  Great  Oaks  besides 
a  distracted  ole  nigger  whut  is  afeard  ob  a  drift 
log." 

Seth  was  retreating  up  the  stairs,  chuckling  at 
the  causeless  fright,  and  Bob  was  mightily  enter 
tained  to  see  the  old  butler  at  fault,  who  was  so  rich 
and  ready  in  caustic  reproof  to  the  young  and  flighty. 
Desmond  and  Reginald  turned  from  the  servants  and 
repaired  to  the  parlor,  where  the  tutor  was  able  laugh 
ingly  to  explain  the  cause  of  the  sound  to  the  group 
waiting  by  the  fireside,  and  to  apologize  for  having 
awkwardly  towed  the  log  into  the  angle  of  the  steps 

287 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

so  that  it  could  not  shake  free,  and  thus  the  melan 
choly  iteration  of  its  oscillations  against  the  flooring 
would  probably  continue  all  night.  "  But  I  move  that 
we  pay  as  little  attention  to  the  sound  as  possible,  and 
adjourn  for  the  present/'  Desmond  continued,  looking 
at  his  watch. 

"  I  feel  as  if  I  could  never  sleep  again/7  said  Mrs. 
Faurie,  pressing  her  hands  to  her  temples. 

"  What  a  pity  that  you  sent  your  maid  down  to  the 
quarter.  She  could  have  a  cot  in  your  dressing- 
room  and  be  company  for  you  so  close  at  hand/' 
suggested  Reginald. 

"  Yes,  she  is  afraid  to  come  back.  She  made  all 
sorts  of  excuses,  but  that  is  the  truth,"  said  Mrs. 
Faurie.  "  I  sent  her  to  help  her  people  save  their 
things;  their  household  furniture  and  bedclothes  are 
so  important  to  them,  —  hard  to  come  by  and  difficult 
for  them  to  replace,  —  the  accumulations  of  many 
years." 

"  Suppose  you  let  Chub  have  a  cot  in  your  room/' 
suggested  Desmond. 

"  I  won't,"  said  Chubby,  stoutly.  "I  won't  sleep  in 
a  room  with  a  lady!" 

The  collapse  of  the  two  elder  boys  over  this  de 
monstration  of  Chub's  delicate  modesty  was  shared 
in  less  degree  by  the  others,  while  Chub  sat  gravely 
on  the  edge  of  the  sofa  and  ejaculated  —  "  The  idea!" 

"  He  'd  be  no  good,  anyhow.  He  is  a  perfect  dor 
mouse,"  said  Reginald. 

"  Leave  him  alone  in  his  propriety,"  added  Horace. 

"  Let  things  be  as  usual,"  said  Mrs.  Faurie.  "  Any- 

288 


THE  FAIR  MISSTSSIPPIAN 

thing  different  might  get  on  my  nerves  and  make  me 
wakeful." 

Desmond  was  rummacring  in  a  drawer  "  There  is 
a  hammer  here.  Will  vou  let  me  nail  up  ttu  window- 
shutters  so  that  the  room  can  oe  anterea  only  from 
the  hall?" 

That  idea  of  a  coerced  order  on  her  hanger  operated 
on  his  mind  like  an  obsession.  Should  the  pirates 
return,  in  view  of  their  peril  by  state's  evidence,  to 
attempt  the  rescue  of  their  comrade,  they  would 
have  the  opportunity  for  a  renewed  effort  to  secure 
the  paper  with  its  rich  guerdon  in  case  of  success. 

"  Nail  up  the  windows ! "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Faurie. 
"Heavens !  I  feel  like  a  pampered  lunatic." 

"  It  would  do  no  harm  except  to  the  shutters,  and 
would  mightily  set  my  mind  at  rest,"  urged  Desmond. 

"  Work  your  will  on  the  shutters,  then,  and  peace 
to  your  mind  ! "  she  said,  laughing  a  little  at  his 
impetuous  haste,  as  Reginald  caught  up  a  lamp  to 
light  him  and  the  two  made  off  together. 

When  they  were  through  with  the  windows,  it  would 
have  been  as  easy  to  tear  down  a  section  of  the  house 
as  to  effect  an  entrance  there. 

As  the  group  stood  together  in  the  hall  for  the  last 
few  words,  the  knock,  knock,  knocking  was  renewed, 
as  of  solemn  clamors  for  admittance.  None  of  them 
mentioned  the  sound,  and  presently  they  were  all  gone 
except  Desmond  and  Reginald,  who  seemed  to  linger, 
but  really  intended  to  wait  and  watch  all  night. 

"  The  lights  are  better  out,"  said  Desmond,  reach 
ing  up  and  extinguishing  the  swinging  lamp  in  the 

289 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

hall  chandelier.  "  If  they  should  come,  which  God 
forbid,  they  could  not  so  easily  get  about  the  house 

in  darkness,  and  we  could  fire  at  better  advantage 

*  r> 

from  the  shadow  than  in  the  full  glare  of  the  veranda 
lights." 

They  closed  the  window-shutters  of  all  the  house  as 
they  patrolled  the  verandas.  The  width  of  these  was 
great  enough  to  limit  the  light  sent  across  the  rooms, 
but  thence  through  the  slats  one  could  look  out  almost 
as  with  the  distinctness  of  daylight  on  the  great  brown 
welter  of  water  palpitating  with  the  rainfall  and  undu 
lating  with  the  current. 

"  You  had  better  lie  down  for  a  while  in  the  parlor," 
Desmond  said  to  Keginald.  "  No  —  you  will  play  out 
Icng  before  day,  if  you  have  no  rest  at  all.  You 
will  be  well  within  call  here,  with  your  gun  beside 
you,  and  you  can  watch  through  the  slats  for  any 
approach  from  the  front  of  the  house." 

They  had  arranged  that  one  or  the  other  should 
remain  in  the  hall  outside  Mrs.  Faurie's  door  —  un 
known  to  her,  however,  lest  this  precaution  excite  her 
alarm  anew  —  throughout  the  night.  Reginald  was  iij 
a  tremor  of  terror  to  perceive  that  it  was  she  against 
whom  the  schemes  of  the  marauders  were  most  di 
rected.  He  had  earlier  thought  of  the  family  silver 
and  the  scattered  valuables  about  the  house,  and  had 
fancied  that  these  had  allured  them  hither,  but  that 
most  appalling  suggestion  of  a  coerced  order  on  her 
New  Orleans  bankers  and  the  extremest  measures 
to  insure  its  being  honored  was  of  far  more  sinister 
import.  The  silver  in  its  present  form  was  easily  iden- 

290 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

tified ;  melted  down,  it  would  be  mulcted  of  half  its 
value  in  the  loss  of  the  rich  chasing  of  the  ornamen 
tation  and  the  fine  workmanship.  Moreover,  the  water- 
rats  might  well  fear  their  own  discrimination  between 
what  was  real  and  what  might  be  a  heavy  plate  and  for 
their  purposes  worthless.  But  there  could  be  no  pos 
sible  doubt  as  to  her  order  on  her  bankers.  Without 
question  they  were  in  communication  with  fences  and 
graduated  rogues  in  New  Orleans  of  such  a  quality 
as  to  be  able  to  present  such  an  order  without  fear 
that  it  would  not  be  honored.  Truly,  the  possibility 
invested  the  menace  that  hung  over  the  house  with  a 
terror  which  he  could  scarcely  contemplate  without  a 
complete  collapse  of  all  his  faculties,  and  which  drove 
every  impulse  of  sleep  from  his  heavy  eyelids.  He 
sank  down  obediently  on  the  sofa,  however,  and  sought 
to  compose  his  mind,  his  eyes  staring  into  the  gloomy 
waters,  his  gun  on  the  floor  beside  him  within  arm's 
reach,  his  ears  acutely  discerning  every  sound  within 
the  house,  and  the  splashing  of  the  water  against  the 
foundations  as  the  rain  fell  and  the  currents  of  the 
overflow  rose  ever  higher  and  higher,  and  now  and 
again  the  sombre  vibrations  of  the  knock,  knock, 
knocking  at  the  door  before  which  the  dead  man  lay. 

Desmond  had  thrown  himself  at  full  length  on  the 
long,  old-fashioned,  mahogany  hall  sofa,  that  he, 
too,  might  find  some  repose  for  his  exhausted  limbs, 
—  now  beginning  to  ache  and  stiffen  from  the  stress 
of  the  day's  exertion,  —  if  not  solace  for  his  racked 
and  anxious  mind. 

The  dark  house  had  grown  still  —  so  still  that  the 

291 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

silence  seemed  sinister,  as  if  some  portentous  crash 
must  break  this  unnatural  hush.  The  lapping  of  the 
water  had  become  monotonous,  the  ear  so  accustomed 
to  it  that  it  scarcely  impinged  upon  the  sense  of 
silence.  The  ghostly  knock,  knock,  knocking  had  its 
sombre  echo,  and  the  interval  relapsed  into  muteness. 
There  was  no  stir  of  whatever  sort  from  the  bedrooms  ; 
the  inmates  were  all  lost  in  slumber.  The  house  might 
have  seemed  tenantless,  when  suddenly  Desmond  be 
came  conscious  of  a  sense  of  motion.  He  raised  himself 
on  his  elbow  and  stared  about  him. 

The  hall  was  absolutely  dark.  The  glass  half-moon 
above  the  solid  panels  of  the  double  front  door,  and 
the  panes  in  the  long  side-lights  on  either  hand,  were 
covered  with  some  quilled  stuff  that  tempered  the 
light  to  gloom  by  day,  and  utterly  excluded  the  glim 
mer  of  night.  He  could  not  have  said  how  or  when 
it  came,  but  something  was  astir,  he  knew,  even 
before  he  heard  that  lisping  sibilance  of  the  ghost 
of  a  step  on  the  padded  velvet  carpet  of  the  stair. 
Again  and  again  it  sounded,  sometimes  regular  for 
several  steps ;  then  silence ;  once  more  the  sibilant 
tread,  sliding  on  the  silky  pile  of  the  velvet.  Farther 
and  farther  it  receded,  unmolested ;  he  thought  it 
was  gone !  And  once  more — the  impact!  And  now 
all  was  silence ;  he  listened  in  vain.  As  he  laid  him 
self  back  on  the  sofa,  the  cold  touch  of  the  haircloth 
with  which  it  was  covered  caused  him  to  withdraw 
his  hand  with  a  jerk  and  start  violently.  Then  he 
composed*  himself  anew  and  sought  the  rest  his 
fagged-out  system  so  needed. 

292 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

At  another  moment  he  would  have  sprung  up  to 
challenge  the  presence,  but  in  this  juncture  he  re 
membered  the  alarm  a  sudden  commotion  in  the  hall 
would  rouse.  Mrs.  Faurie  was  aware  of  the  peculiar 
jeopardy  in  which  she  stood.  The  demand  for  the 
emeralds,  for  the  order  on  her  bankers,  had  apprised 
her  that  she  was  the  special  mark  for  the  enterprise 
of  the  marauders.  So  extreme  a  terror  as  a  sudden 
awakening  to  more  turmoil  and  suspense  might  prove 
too  much  for  her  nerves,  for  her  overstrained  heart, 
— might,  indeed,  be  fatal.  This  demonstration  marked 
no  intrusion,  no  new  menace ;  it  was  only  the  old 
unexplained,  inexplicable  spectral  mystery  which  he 
had  encountered  when  he  first  reached  Great  Oaks 
Plantation,  —  almost  forgotten  until  this  afternoon 
when  he  had  sprung  into  the  window  and  rushed 
downstairs,  hearing  a  sibilant  descent  and  passing 
an  unseen  presence. 

In  the  midst  of  the  lull  induced  by  the  uncanny 
associations,  he  felt  a  rush  of  impatience  that  this 
fantastic  demonstration  should  be  forced  upon  his 
attention  now,  —  at  this  time,  when  any  slight  lapse 
of  vigilance  on  his  part,  any  failure  of  judgment 
under  circumstances  so  strange  to  all  his  training  and 
experience,  might  cost  the  life  of  every  one  in  the 
house.  He  believed  that  there  must  be  some  natural 
explanation  for  the  manifestation ;  but  since  it  baf 
fled  reason  and  conjecture,  it  mattered  little  to  the 
fact  that  he  did  not  fully  accept  it.  He  had  as  distinct 
a  thrill  quivering  icily  along  his  spine  as  if  he  had 
no  philosophy  whatever,  and  as  he  placed  his  hand 

293 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

on  his  brow,  he  felt  tbat  cold  drops  were  standing 
there. 

Suddenly  he  sprang  to  his  feet.  There  was  a 
commotion  upstairs,  not  so  much  a  tread  or  a  move 
ment,  but  a  husky,  half-smothered  voice  crying  out. 
In  the  tremendous  crisis  that  the  moment  was  to  him, 
he  remembered  to  open  the  front  parlor  door,  and  with 
a  whisper  he  motioned  Reginald  to  take  his  post  on 
the  hall  sofa  while  he  bounded  noiselessly  up  the 
stairs,  three  steps  at  a  time.  He  burst  into  the  room 
where  the  wounded  man  lay  —  expecting  he  hardly 
knew  what.  It  was  the  only  chamber  alight  in  the 
house,  yet  full  of  distorted  shadows.  The  kerosene 
lamp  had  been  extinguished,  and  the  dim  illumina 
tion  came  from  that  primitive  contrivance  known  as 
a  button  lamp, —  a  bit  of  cloth  tied  over  a  button, 
the  end  lighted  and  set  afloat  in  a  saucer  of  lard,  giv 
ing  a  clear,  tiny  flame  peculiarly  adapted  to  a  sick 
room.  Seth  had  placed  this  on  the  fireless  hearth,  ana1 
thus  shining  upward,  all  the  furnishings  cast  gloomy 
shadows  on  the  wall.  They  seemed  curiously  out  of 
proportion,  —  out  of  drawing,  so  to  speak,  because 
of  the  slant  of  the  walls  of  the  half-story  structure 
and  the  deep  recesses  of  the  dormer  windows. 

In  the  middle  of  the  room  Seth  stood  staring,  evi 
dently  just  roused  from  slumber;  his  starting  eyes 
were  on  the  wounded  man,  who  had  struggled  into  a 
sitting  posture,  wildly  gesticulating  toward  the  door, 
every  fresh  exertion  sending  the  blood  spurting  over 
the  bosom  of  the  white  night-shirt  furnished  him,  and 
trickling  down  the  white  coverings  of  the  bed. 

294 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  Who  is  that  thar  guy  ?  "  he  exclaimed  huskily. 
"  An  what 's  he  comin'  after  me  fur  ?  " 

He  fixed  wild  eyes  on  Desmond,  who  marveled 
whether  it  was  yet  time  for  the  delirium  and  fever 
attendant  upon  a  gunshot  wound  to  set  in. 

As  he  spoke  in  a  soothing  voice,  the  incongruity  of 
the  situation  could  but  strike  him.  He  had  sought  to 
kill  this  man  and  had  nearly  compassed  his  object ; 
but  now  he  was  laying  the  gentlest  hands  on  the  ma 
rauder's  shoulder,  and  trying  to  place  him  back  in  his 
recumbent  posture.  The  danger  was  all  gone  out  of 
him,  but  the  semblance  of  kindness  seemed  strange. 

"  Nobody  is  going  to  disturb  you.  Take  your 
night's  rest.  Lie  down  and  be  quiet." 

The  marauder  grasped  Desmond's  arm  with  a  sun 
burned  hand  garnished  with  broken  nails.  "But  — 
say  —  who  was  he  ?  Oh,  my !  he  looked  comical ! 
What's  he  want  o'  me?'1 

"  There 's  nobody  here/'  protested  Desmond.  "  Lie 
down." 

"  Can't  stuff  me  !  Ain't  slep'  a  wink  ter-night." 
A  shadow  crossed  his  face,  which  was  young  and 
broad,  and  with  a  "bang"  of  straight  sandy  hair,  a 
square  jaw,  and  a  long,  thin  mouth.  "  I  got  too  much 
to  study  'bout." 

"  Don't  do  it  now,"  Desmond  kindly  admonished 
him.  "  You  have  started  that  wound  to  bleeding. 
Lie  down." 

"  That  man  looked  comical ;  he  did  n't  look  like 
folks  hereabout !  He  had  on  a  three-cornered  hat." 

Desmond  gave  so  palpable  a  start  that  the  wounded 

295 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

marauder  noticed  it.  "  Ai-yi !  You  know  him,"  he 
said  with  significance.  "  Is  he  after  me  ?  " 

"Did  he  have  powdered  hair?"  Desmond  asked, 
surprised  at  his  own  temporizing,  and  remembering 
Reginald's  description  of  the  nurse's  vision. 

"  Gunpowder  on  his  hair  !  "  the  man  said  wonder- 
ingly.  "  Naw,  't  wuz  white  !  An'  Lord  !  he  did  n't 
expect  to  see  me  lookin'  at  him.  He  flipped  in  — 
an'  when  his  eyes  met  mine,  he  flipped  out.  Say  —  I 
be  'feard  o'  him,  —  he  looked  so  comical !  Say  —  is 
he  alive  !  " 

Desmond  turned  to  the  attendant.  "  Seth,  who  is 
this  man  ?  " 

"  Gawd  A'mighty,  boss,  I  dunno  !  "  Seth  gasped, 
the  whites  of  his  eyes  distended  and  their  pupils 
wildly  rolling.  "  Ter  tell  de  trufe,  boss,  an'  shame  de 
debbil,  I  jes'  batted  my  eye  one  minit,  an'  dar  war 
dis  man  shyin'  an'  plungin'  an'  'lowin'  dat  he  clone 
seen  —  I  reckon  't  wuz  dat  ar  Slip-Slinksy  what  de 
chillern  talks  about  wunst  in  awhile.  Laws-a-massy, 
Mist'  Desmond,  lemme  go  home  !  'Fore  Gawd,  I  can't 
stay  here  no  mo' !  Lemme  go  —  leastways,  down  ter 
de  kitchen,  whar  he  ain't  neber  been  seen  nor  hearn. 
I  can't  stay  whar  Slip  Slinksy  —  oh,  yi !  hi-i !  " 

He  was  looking  in  affright  over  his  shoulder  at  a 
sudden  movement  of  Desmond's  shadow  acix^s  the 
slanting  wall.  It  was  clearly  demonstrated  that  the 
utility  of  Seth  in  the  offices  of  sick  nurse  was  at 
an  end.  So  charging  him  to  disclose  naught  to 
his  fellows  downstairs,  on  pain  of  being  ordered  to 
return  to  the  sick-room,  Desmond  assigned  him  to  a 

296 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

post  on  the  back  piazza  within  call  of  the  others,  and 
with  the  reassurance  of  cheerful  conversation  with 
the  corpulent  old  cook,  always  a  fixture,  half  a-doze 
in  the  kitchen  window. 

The  clumsy  descent  of  the  stairs  by  Seth,  used 
only  to  the  one-story  dwelling  so  common  in  the  re 
gion,  Desmond  thought  was  sure  to  advertise  his  with 
drawal  to  all  the  house.  But  when  the  back  hall  door 
had  closed  upon  him,  absolute  quiet  succeeded.  All 
the  inmates  were  asleep,  —  a  much  needed  rest,  obvi 
ously.  But  the  continued  hush  demonstrated  how 
essential  was  the  strict  watch,  since  so  turbulent  and 
erratic  a  transit  had  failed  to  rouse  the  domicile.  He 
reflected  that  the  cautious  methods  of  burglars  could 
never  have  permitted  so  much  noise.  He  began  to 
doubt  the  vigilance  of  his  sentinels.  He  had  no  blame 
for  Seth,  who  had  slept  at  his  post.  It  had  been  a 
strenuous  day  of  excitement  and  labor  for  the  hos 
tler,  and  indeed  for  all  the  household  retainers.  The 
exposure  to  rain  and  wind  is  always  of  a  peculiar 
exhaustion  to  the  physical  energies.  Desmond  feared 
that,  thus  absorbed  by  the  strange  manifestation  of 
the  troublous  peripatetic  spirit  of  Great  Oaks  Plan 
tation,  worse  dangers  might  have  been  allowed  to 
approach. 

He  went  swiftly  to  one  of  the  dormer  windows,  and 
looked  out  upon  the  great  flood  as  upon  an  inland 
sea.  Still  the  rain  fell ;  the  drops  stood  in  bubbles, 
and  again  coursed  lazily  along  the  panes  of  the  glass, 
and  through  their  corrugations  he  could  see  the 
rippling  waters  in  the  wan  light  of  the  illuminated 

297 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

veranda ;  the  vague  boles  of  the  trees  in  the  shifting 
mist;  the  floating  debris,  —  here  and  there  uprooted 
bushes,  logs,  fence-rails,  timbers  of  buildings ;  but 
never  a  boat,  never  a  human  suggestion.  The  ark 
could  not  have  seemed  more  lonely,  more  aloof  from 
all  humanity  in  the  floods  that  drowned  the  earth, 
than  did  Great  Oaks  mansion  in  that  deep  and  memo 
rable  overflow  in  Deep  water  Bend  from  the  crevasse 
in  the  Faurie  cross  levee. 

The  tiny  light  of  the  primitive  button  lamp  burned 
whitely  on  the  hearth  ;  the  fire  was  dead  some  hours 
since,  and  no  coal  gleamed  through  the  ash.  The 
room  had  a  comfortable  aspect,  though  the  blue  and 
white  curtains  were  still  undrawn  as  when  he  had 
sprung  through  the  window  there.  It  was  at  the 
opposite  side,  and  without  shifting  his  posture,  where 
he  sat  in  the  recess  of  the  other  window,  he  could 
see  through  it  the  sloping  roof  of  the  veranda,  on 
which  lay  the  boughs  of  the  live-oak  tree  towering 
high  above.  A  table  at  the  foot  of  the  bed  held  a 
glass  from  which  restoratives  had  been  administered, 
a  bowl  which  had  been  filled  with  the  soup  in  which 
the  old  cook  excelled,  some  lint  and  home-made  band 
ages  from  an  old  linen  sheet,  ready  for  use  in  case  they 
might  be  needed  for  stanching  the  further  flow  of 
blood.  The  floor  was  covered  with  a  blue  and  white 
matting;  the  woodwork  was  of  the  old  china-white 
paint,  as  smooth  as  enamel.  The  white  wall-paper 
bloomed  with  blue  corn-flowers,  —  it  was  the  blue 
room!  There  were  presses  in  the  jambs  beside  the 
fireplace,  and  these,  too,  were  of  the  spotless  white  of 

298 


THE   FAIR  MISSIS  SIPPIAN 

the  door  and  chair-rail  and  wainscot.  The  bed  was 
dressed  in  white,  but  from  the  half  canopy  long  blue 
curtains  depended,  mottled  with  some  indeterminate 
design  in  white.  He  rather  wondered  at  the  fresh- 

o 

ness  of  it  all,  considering  its  disuse ;  but  there  was 
little  dust  afloat  amidst  the  densities  of  the  woods 
and  along  the  expanse  of  the  river,  and  the  tradi 
tions  of  Great  Oaks  were  of  famous  housekeepers. 
A  single  sign  of  disorder  the  room  showed! — one 
of  the  presses  was  open,  and  within  was  glimpsed  a 
congeries  of  old  account-books,  bundles  of  papers, 
japanned  boxes,  all  in  a  degree  of  confusion  that 
implied  long  neglect  or  great  haste. 

When  he  glanced  again  at  the  pillow,  he  was  re 
lieved  to  see  that  the  wounded  man  had  fallen  asleep, 
doubtless  from  the  exhaustion  attendant  upon  the 
excitements  of  the  last  hour.  The  breath  came  with 
a  queer  whistling  sound  from  his  torn  lung,  and  this 
gave  Desmond  a  keen  pang,  notwithstanding  the 
knowledge  that  the  miscreant  deserved  far  worse  pun 
ishment  than  the  wound  he  had  received.  His  sun 
burned  face  was  yet  younger  of  aspect  as  he  slept, 
and  softer;  his  unkempt  yellow  hair,  his  stubbly, 
unshaven  chin  and  upper  lip,  and  his  dirty  face  on 
the  fine  white  linen  of  the  pillow-case  spoke  the  lim 
itations  of  his  low  station ;  and  the  tutor,  who  had 
pinned  his  faith  to  training,  had  a  reservation  in 
his  condemnation,  —  holding  that  this  man  might 
not  have  been  what  he  was  but  for  what  his  circum 
stances  had  made  him. 

Desmond,  in  the  deep,  shadowy  recess  of  the  dor- 

299 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

mer  window,  thus  meditating,  looked  out  keenly  at 
every  shifting  change  of  the  watery  expanse,  listen 
ing  acutely  to  every  semblance  of  sound  within  the 
house,  hearing  even  the  recoil  of  the  springs  of  the 
sofa  in  the  hall  below  as  Reginald  altered  his  posi 
tion  ;  hearing  the  water  rush  f utilely  against  the 
foundations  and  turn  splashing  aside ;  hearing  every 
iteration  of  the  knock,  knock,  knocking  of  the  drift 
log  caught  at  the  veranda  steps,  and  he  was  instantly 
aware  when  once  more  that  scarcely  to  be  discrimi 
nated  impact  of  a  sibilant  footfall,  so  stealthy  it  was, 
sounded  anew  on  the  stairway  of  the  hall.  He  could 
hardly  control  his  impatience,  —  the  inexplicable  in 
cident  so  jeopardized  the  fidelity  of  his  watchmen,  the 
composure  of  the  rest  of  the  household.  He  remem 
bered  that  it  was  Reginald  who  had  first  told  him 
the  story  of  the  strange  step  on  the  stair.  He  won 
dered  if  the  boy  heard  it  now,  as  he  lay  obediently 
waiting  on  the  sofa  in  the  hall  below.  He  wondered 
that  Reginald  could  hold  himself  motionless,  for  not 
a  sound  came  save  that  lisping  tread,  soft,  sibilant, 
—  now  still,  now  distinct  once  more,  ascending  the 
stairs. 

Desmond  had  an  impulse  almost  uncontrollable  to 
rush  out  into  the  hall,  only  checked  by  the  fear  that 
he  would  find  nothing.  Then,  with  an  effort  at  self- 
control,  he  held  himself  quiet  in  the  deep,  curtained 
recess  of  the  dormer  window.  Since  the  figure  had 
entered  this  room  before  the  unwilling  vision  of  the 
wounded  robber,  perhaps  the  lure  it  then  followed 
might  again  bring  it  hither.  Desmond  caught  his 

300 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

breath  as  he  heard  the  step  approach  nearer  and  yet 
nearer.  When  the  footfall  was  just  without,  it  paused, 
and  Desmond  fearfully  heard  the  sombre  knock,  knock, 
knocking  at  the  door  below  stairs  before  which  the 
dead  man  lay.  The  next  moment  his  heart  was  thump 
ing  so  loudly  that  he  thought  the  sound  might  betray 
his  presence.  For  there  entered  slowly,  cautiously, 
with  a  quick,  nervous  glance  at  the  bed  where  the 
wounded  robber  slept,  the  apparition  he  had  described 
hardly  an  hour  ago,  —  the  figure  that  patrolled  the 
stairs  in  the  wan  moonlight  in  the  tradition  of  the 
nurse's  vision. 

A  tall  man  it  was,  and  spare.  He  was  muffled  in 
a  cloak  to  the  chin.  He  had  upon  his  head  a  hat, 
cocked  as  if  accessory  to  a  fancy  costume;  his  hair 
was  white,  not  powdered ;  he  held  in  his  hand  a  scroll 
of  paper ;  his  face  was  one  that  Desmond  recognized 
instantly,  despite  the  anxious,  secret,  blazing  eye,  the 
tension  of  excitement  in  every  drawn  feature.  Mr. 
Stanlett,  with  that  careful,  soft  tread,  noiseless  save 
for  an  occasional  slipping  shuffle  incident  to  the  step 
of  age,  crossed  the  room  and  stood  for  a  moment  scan 
ning  the  face  of  the  sleeping  man.  Desmond,  invisi 
ble  in  the  deep  shadows  of  the  curtained  recessed 
window,  trembled  for  him  lest  that  peculiar  mesmeric 
influence,  responsive  to  an  intent  regard,  rouse  the 
sleeper  to  a  moment  of  frenzied  fright.  But  the  man 
still  slumbered,  the  breath  still  whistling  in  labored 
respiration  from  his  torn  lung.  Mr.  Stanlett  evidently 
harbored  no  suspicion  of  the  shadowed  window  recess. 
He  was  very  old,  and  his  age  was  telling  on  him  in 

301 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

the  draughts  that  this  strange  secret  made  upon  his 
powers  of  endurance.  He  tottered  as  he  approached 
the  press,  its  door  ajar,  and  as  he  paused  and  gazed 
at  its  disorder,  he  shook  his  head  to  and  fro  in  dismay. 
He  pulled  the  door  back,  and  leaning  within,  he  opened 
a  drawer  which  Desmond  fancied  was  a  secret  recep 
tacle.  He  laid  the  scroll  in  this,  and  then  with  a  cheer 
ing  face  and  a  brisk  satisfaction  of  manner,  his  lips 
set  firmly  together,  he  began  to  push  the  bundles  of 
papers  and  japanned  boxes  back  into  their  places,  his 
nervous,  veinous  old  hands  moving  here  and  there 
with  great  diligence  in  his  eager  haste  to  be  gone. 
As  he  forced  the  door  to  shut  on  the  crowded  shelves, 
he  did  not  observe  what  the  keen  young  eyes  in 
the  recess  perceived,  that  the  corner  of  one  of  these 
bundles  so  protruded  that  the  door  did  not  compactly 
close.  He  shot  the  bolt  and  turned  the  key,  unaware 
that  neither  had  gone  home,  whirled  about  with  a 
jaunty  air  of  capability,  looked  keenly  at  the  sleeping 
face  on  the  pillow,  and  went  briskly  but  softly  shuf 
fling  out  of  the  door,  leaving  Desmond  at  once  re-' 
lieved,  amazed,  and  dismayed. 

He  could  not  for  a  time  collect  his  faculties  to 
ponder  on  this  strange  chance.  He  sat  silently  listen 
ing  to  the  stealthy  footsteps  that  had  so  long  baffled 
inquiry  at  Greak  Oaks  Plantation.  He  was  remember 
ing  that  on  the  occasion  when  the  spectre  was  declared 
to  have  been  seen,  Mr.  Stanlett  was  one  of  those  first 
present  in  the  hall  below,  and  could  not  recognize,  it 
was  said,  the  features  of  the  apparition  through  look 
ing  upward  at  the  landing.  The  steps  retreated  farther 

302 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

and  farther,  and  at  last  their  sibilance  sounded  no 
more. 

In  the  silence  Desmond  took  counsel  with  himself. 
There  was  something  of  mystery  here,  of  an  impor 
tance  to  justify  some  risk,  of  a  continuance  to  war 
rant  years  of  concealment.  What  it  was,  whom  it  might 
affect,  he  could  not  imagine.  He  had  the  sentiment 
that  whatever  is  secret  is  wrong.  And  certainly  this 
was  in  a  keeping  neither  wise,  nor  consistent,  nor  com 
petent.  His  nettling  discovery,  for  he  wished  now  he 
knew  naught,  entailed  a  certain  responsibility.  The 
old  man  imagined  that  the  scroll  was  in  a  secret  re 
ceptacle,  locked  and  double  locked.  And,  in  fact,  one 
man,  perhaps  indeed  two  —  for  Desmond  could  not  feel 
sure  of  those  half-closed  eyes  and  whistling  breath  — 
knew  that  it  was  within  reach  of  any  deft  and  groping 
hand.  He  revolted  at  the  assumption  of  responsibility 
with  which  he  had  no  concern.  Nevertheless,  this  had 
been  thrust  upon  him,  and  in  view  of  the  personnel 
of  all  concerned,  he  could  not  shirk  it. 

He  rose  abruptly,  crossed  the  room,  and  opened  the 
door  of  the  press.  He,  too,  gazed  doubtfully  at  the 
sleeping  man  in  the  bed,  who  did  not  stir.  Presently 
Desmond's  deft  hands  were  fingering  the  outline  of 
the  secret  drawer.  It  was  constructed  after  an  old  and 
ordinary  type,  and  with  one  or  two  efforts  his  thumb 
pressed  a  spring  and  the  drawer  shook  loose.  Taking 
the  scroll,  for  there  were  no  other  contents,  Desmond 
slipped  it  without  examination  or  a  glance  of  scru 
tiny  into  his  breast  pocket. 

As  he  descended  the  stairs,  Reginald  rose  from  the 

303 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

sofa  to  meet  him.  "Such  a  night,"  he  whispered. 
"As  if  we  have  not  enough  to  bear  already,  I  heard 
—  I  could  almost  swear  it  —  old  Slip-Slinksy  going 
up  and  coming  down  the  stairs!" 

Desmond  passed  his  arm  around  him  and  gave  him 
a  jocose  hug.  "  And  this  is  the  fellow  I  have  been 
calling  a  man.  Afraid  of  nursery  ghosts ! " 

He  was  going  into  the  library.  The  rain  had  ceased; 
the  mist  was  lifting.  A  pale  gray  light  was  sifting 
through  the  slats  of  the  shuttered  windows.  The 
veranda  lamps  burned  queerly  out  of  countenance  be 
fore  its  definite,  pervasive  distinctness.  As  Reginald 
threw  open  the  blinds,  Desmond  was  lighting  a  wax 
candle  that  stood  on  his  desk,  and  sealing  in  a  large 
envelope  a  paper  at  which  he  scrupulously  forbore 
to  look;  and  as  he  lifted  his  head,  he  saw  that  the 
sun  was  striking  long,  red,  shifting  gleams  across  the 
great  inland  sea  of  the  Mississippi  overflow. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

J_  HE  waters  had  not  yet  disappeared  from  the  face 
of  the  earth  when  the  routine  at  Great  Oaks  mansion 
was  reestablished.  Those  ghastly  events,  the  coroner's 
inquest,  the  identification  and  removal  of  the  flat- 
boat-man's  corpse,  the  ante-mortem  statement  of  the 
wounded  prisoner,  and  the  subsequent  capture  and 
incarceration  of  the  river  pirates,  followed  in  a  rapid 
succession  that  seemed  incongruous  with  their  im 
portance.  The  horrified  and  superstitious  servants 
now  went  about  their  duties  with  casual  cheerful 
faces;  the  tutor  had  resumed  his  pedagogic  struggles 
with  the  young  idea ;  Chubby,  in  the  intervals  of  his 
labors  as  a  student,  sat  upon  the  railing  of  the  veranda 
and  fished  in  the  overflow,  his  skill  being  now  and 
again  rewarded  by  the  splashing  of  a  finny  trophy  at 
the  end  of  his  line,  whereupon  long  and  serious  con 
ferences  ensued  between  him  and  the  cook  as  to  the 
best  methods  to  prepare  certain  piscatorial  dishes  con 
sidered  of  small  gustatory  value  by  the  epicure,  and 
always  served  in  a  single  platter  for  Chub  alone.  Mrs. 
Faurie  had  resumed  her  plaints  against  the  dullness 
and  general  vapidity  of  Great  Oaks,  but  not  her  las 
situde.  For  there  was  much  to  do.  The  preparation 
for  repairs  and  rebuilding  incident  to  the  destruction 
wrought  by  the  overflow  to  the  farm  machinery,  the 
miles  of  fencing,  the  tenants'  cabins,  brought  the 
manager  of  the  place,  now  returned  from  Vicksburg, 

305 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

almost  daily  to  the  house,  with  estimates  and  sugges 
tions  and  discussions  of  ways  and  means.  There  were 
many  problems  presented,  difficult  of  solution  even  to 
one  of  his  experience,  and  Mrs.  Faurie  had  come  to 
dread  the  sight  of  him,  with  his  perplexities,  paddling 
up  to  the  veranda  in  his  dugout,  the  glister  of  the 
blinding  sun  on  the  expanse  of  waters  narrowing  his 
keen  gray  eyes  to  mere  slits,  corrugating  his  brow, 
burning  his  complexion  almost  to  a  scarlet  hue,  in 
congruous  enough  with  his  straight  yellow  hair  and 
straw-colored  full  beard,  for  he  wore  his  straw  hat  on 
the  back  of  his  head. 

Mrs.  Faurie  had  begun  to  say  often,  "  Let  us  ask 
Mr.  Desmond,"  when  the  alternative  propositions  of 
plans  and  computations  of  approximate  expenses  in 
volved  them  both  in  doubt  and  anxiety,  and  he  had 
found  the  clear-headed  views  of  a  man  of  judgment, 
progressive  yet  prudent,  of  value  in  appraising  possi 
bilities  and  reaching  conclusions,  despite  Desmond's 
inexperience  in  the  questions  at  issue  and  need  of  in 
formation  in  the  premises  at  every  step.  He  was  so 
quick  to  comprehend,  so  willing  to  take  instruction, 
so  cautious  <>i  precipitate  decision,  of  such  keen  acu 
men  and  just  ce  of  reasoning,  that  Mr.  Bainbridge 
was  glad  of  his  counsel  and  to  be  able  to  cease  to  con 
fer  only  with  a  woman,  albeit  the  owner  of  the  inter 
ests  involved.  He  broached  the  suggestion  himself 
one  day  in  his  big,  hearty  voice, "  Let 's  submit  the 
whole  idee  to  Mr.  Desmond " ;  then,  abashed,  per 
turbed,  he  looked  up  fearfully  from  under  his  bushy 
blond  eyebrows,  perceiving  the  many  untoward  in- 

306 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

ferences  to  be  drawn  from  his  reference  to  this  arbi 
tration. 

But  Mrs.  Faurie  discerned  none  of  them.  "  The  very 
thing/'  she  concurred,  touching1  the  bell.  Then  as  the 
servant  appeared,  "  Ask  Mr.  Desmond  if  he  can't 
come  here  for  one  tiny  minute.  Tell  him  to  lock 
Chubby  up  in  the  mahogany  cupboard,  or  fasten  him 
in  the  letter-press,  or  kill  him  a  little,  —  anything,  to 
get  rid  of  him,  —  and  come  here  quick." 

She,  too,  relied  upon  Desmond's  judgment  impli 
citly,  and  sometimes  he  was  disposed  to  protest.  "  What 
will  you  two  say  if  all  this  goes  wrong  ?  You  know 
that  I  am  as  green  as  a  gourd  to  this  business." 

"  Ah,  but  it  cannot  go  wrong,  —  it  is  instinct  with 
right  reason.  I  could  n't  devise  it  myself,  but  I  can 
discriminate  its  value.  You  have  the  happy  hand ; 
everything  you  touch  is  successful." 

Mr.  Bainbridge  sat  demurely  by,  scarcely  daring 
to  breathe  for  the  temerity  of  the  thought  in  his 
mind,  his  eyes  discreetly  downcast.  Would  the  widow 
really  sacrifice  her  great  income  for  this  man  of 
pinched  conditions?  "  Mighty  smart  man,  though!" 
he  was  sufficiently  just  to  say  to  himself  when  out  of 
her  presence,  as  he  flun^  himself  into  his  dugout  and 
took  up  his  paddle.  "Mighty  glad  he  is  here.  Don't 
know  how  in  the  world  I  'd  ha'  made  out  to  git  along 
with  all  these  perplexity  fits  with  just  a  woman's 
whims  to  control  things."  For  Desmond  often  boldly 
battled  with  Mrs.  Faurie's  preferences  and  prejudices 
in  the  cause  of  her  best  interests,  and  demonstrated 
what  was  most  worth  while,  and  what  was  idle  and 

307 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

useless  expense  in  the  rehabilitation  of  the  wreckage 
of  the  overflow;  and  though  she  disputed  with  spirit, 
she  was  open  to  reason,  and  if  convinced,  was  willing 
to  concede. 

There  were  other  visitors  at  Great  Oaks  in  these 
days,  and  mightily  surprised  to  find  the  trio  in  one 
of  these  heady  discussions  were  Colonel  Kentopp  and 
Mr.  Loring,  rowing  in  a  skiff  up  to  the  veranda  steps 
and  ushered  into  the  parlor  before  the  wranglers  well 
knew  that  intruders  were  upon  them.  At  the  sight  of 
the  papers  piled  upon  the  table,  the  account-book  in 
Desmond's  hand,  and  the  budget  of  letters  that  Mr. 
Bainbridge  held  from  Mrs.  Faurie's  "  machinery 
man,"  as  she  dubbed  a  great  factory,  Colonel  Ken- 
topp's  face  clouded. 

"  You  have  fallen  upon  evil  days,  Mr.  Bainbridge," 
he  said,  gripping  the  hand  of  the  manager,  for  he 
made  it  a  point  to  be  hearty  and  cordial  with  all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  people  in  the  conservation  of  his 
reputation  for  popularity.  "  You  will  raise  more  cray 
fish  than  cotton  this  year,"  he  continued,  with  that 
agreeable  manner  of  making  a  distasteful  remark 
which  serves  the  double  purpose  of  indulging  one's 
ill-humor  at  an  interlocutor's  expense  while  compli 
menting  him  with  conversation. 

"  Not  at  all,"  interposed  Mrs.  Faurie,  for  she  had 
an  affinity  with  success,  and  resented  evil  prognosti 
cations  in  her  affairs  as  intrusive.  "  Mr.  Desmond 
says  that  if  the  water  recedes  in  time  to  get  cotton 
planted  properly,  the  alluvium  of  the  overflow  will 
enrich  the  land  and  materially  increase  the  yield." 

308 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  Much  virtue  in  an  *  if/  "  Colonel  Kentopp  con 
tended,  as  he  came  around  the  table  with  a  rolling 
step  and  flung  himself  into  one  of  the  big  arm 
chairs.  "  I  did  not  know  that  Mr.  Desmond  is  an 
agricultural  authority,"  he  continued  with  a  large 
air  of  jocularity  as  he  crossed  his  legs.  "  I  thought 
his  knowledge  of  rural  matters  was  contained  in  the 
Georgics  of  Virgil  —  ha!  ha!  ha!"  And  he  sent  a 
glance  of  rallying  laughter  at  Desmond  from  out  his 
round,  dark,  glossy,  unamused  eyes. 

"  Mr.  Desmond  knows  a  great  deal  about  many 
things,"  Mrs.  Faurie  retorted  promptly,  unaccus 
tomed  to  contradiction  or  discipline,  and  restive  under 
the  slur  of  ridicule  cast  upon  Desmond. 

"  So  we  found  out  who  had  the  pleasure  of  being 
his  fellow  guests  at  Dryad-Dene,"  said  Mr.  Loring, 
who  had  a  very  bland  aspect  for  a  wooden  man,  as 
he  sat  in  the  group  before  the  fire.  He  had  a  great 
respect  for  money  in  the  abstract,  and  Mrs.  Faurie 
represented  large  aggregations  of  wealth  and  thus 
commanded  his  interest.  He  was  disposed  to  soften 
to  her  liking  the  tone  of  the  conversation,  which  he 
thought  ill-taken.  Moreover,  he  had  not  often  had 
the  opportunity  of  meeting  her,  and  the  sight  of  the 
great  beauty  was  an  event  of  moment.  He  was  not 
a  "  ladies'  man  "  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  the 
term,  but  he  had  the  successful  man's  reverence  for 
preeminence  in  any  form,  and  the  splendor  of  her 
personal  gifts  appealed  to  his  appreciation  of  the  pre 
dominant.  Her  beauty  was  always  so  striking  that 
whatever  she  wore  seemed  cunningly  designed  to  en- 

309 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

hance  it,  —  even  to-day,  when  her  costume  was  a  sheer 
lawn  blouse  and  a  plain  black  skirt.  Her  arms  and 
shoulders  were  so  dazzlingly  white  through  the  soft 
fabric ;  its  absolute  simplicity  made  so  undeniable  a  de 
mand  to  mark  how  the  lack  of  effort  or  ornamentation 
brought  into  higher  relief  and  added  importance  all 
the  fine  details  of  her  perfect  face,  the  exquisite  tints 
of  her  long-lashed  gray  eyes,  the  lustre  of  her  rich 
brown  hair  rolled  up  so  plainly  from  her  fair  brow, 
the  beautiful  shape  of  her  hands  and  arms,  shaded 
only  by  a  simple  ruffle  at  the  end  of  her  elbow-sleeves. 
She  was  in  Mr.  Loring's  eyes  a  woman  whose  wishes 
were  to  be  considered,  whose  station  and  wealth  were 
to  be  respected,  whose  beauty  was  to  be  worshiped, 
and  he  wondered  at  Kentopp's  fatuity  when,  catching 
his  cue,  he  said  :  — 

"  Indeed,  Mr.  Desmond  was  greatly  appreciated  at 
Dryad-Dene,  —  especially  by  the  young  ladies  !  "  with 
an  arch  o-lance  at  the  tutor. 

o 

Loring  thought  of  the  dim,  pale  attractions  of  Miss 
Kelvin  and  Miss  Allandyce  in  comparison  with  the 
resplendent  vision  before  him,  and  he  deemed  Ken- 
topp  mentally  a  poor  creature. 

"  Of  course  Mr.  Desmond  has  not  had  agricultural 
experience,  but  he  has  a  very  good  article  of  common 
sense,  and  with  what  mind  Mr.  Bainbridge  and  I 
have  left,  since  the  overflow  fairly  crazed  us  both,  we 
think  we  are  going  to  make  out  mighty  well/'  stoutly 
insisted  Mrs.  Faurie. 

"  I  '11  be  bound  you  do,"  said  Mr.  Loring,  admir 
ingly. 

310 


THE  FA IR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  But  Mr.  Desmond  is  due  at  Dryad-Dene,"  pro 
tested  Kentopp,  now  on  the  back  track.  "  He  took 
French  leave  of  us,  and  our  week-end  party  is  not  yet 
dispersed,  though  the  week  has.  The  overflow  gave 
us  that  boon,  at  all  events.  They  have  n't  been  able 
to  get  away." 

"  You  are  very  kind,  but  it  is  impossible  for  me  to 
return,"  said  Desmond,  courteously. 

"Oh,  I'm  so  glad,"  cried  out  Mrs.  Faurie,  unex 
pectedly,  and  in  a  tone  of  girlish  glee.  "  I  was  so 
afraid  that  Edward  might  accept."  Then,  turning  to 
the  amazed  Kentopp,  she  added,  "You  know  that  he 
is  the  source  of  all  our  courage.  We  were  in  a  state 
of  siege  here.  We  look  upon  him  as  if  he  were  as 
powerful  as  an  army  with  banners." 

"  Killed  two  of  the  men  with  your  own  hands ;  I 
believe  the  testimony  at  the  inquest  showed  that,"  — 
Colonel  Kentopp's  lip  curled  as  if  in  distaste.  "  Pain 
ful  necessity." 

"  Not  all, — providential  opportunity  !  Edward  and 
I  agreed  that  we  would  have  no  morbid  sensibility 
over  it,"  declared  Mrs.  Faurie. 

"  Why,  I  should  smile ! "  said  the  wooden  man,  in 
hearty  indorsement,  his  slang  literal.  It  was  not  his 
place,  and  he  knew  it,  but  he  rose  from  his  chair  with 
the  intention  of  himself  terminating  the  visit  and 
taking  the  malapropos  Kentopp  home.  "You  have 
much  to  do  here ;  we  had  best  be  going." 

"  If  Mr.  Desmond  will  not  return  with  us,"  said 
Kentopp,  gathering  his  faculties  together  as  best  he 
could,  and  perceiving  the  light  of  elation  in  Loring's 

311 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

eyes.  Great  Oaks  Plantation  would  doubtless  be  soon 
on  the  market.  Its  overflow  scarcely  made  against  its 
value,  though  it  might  be  utilized  to  cry  down  the 
asking  price,  since  it  was  only  the  result  of  the  nefa 
rious  crime  of  cutting  the  cross  levee,  that  was  hith 
erto  a  complete  protection.  Mrs.  Faurie,  evidently  all 
unwitting  of  the  future,  was  herself  to  defray  the  im 
mense  expense  of  its  rehabilitation.  Loring  scarcely 
looked  as  wooden  as  was  his  wont,  smoothing  down 
his  bristly  mustache  with  a  jaunty  air,  a  secret  smile 
behind  his  eyes,  as  it  were,  so  confidential,  so  intro 
spective,  so  self-communing  was  its  expression.  Of  all 
the  boons  that  his  money  had  brought  within  reach 
of  the  millionaire,  Great  Oaks  Plantation  was  the  one 
he  most  coveted.  Even  its  semi-grotesque  amphibious 
aspect  could  not  diminish  his  desire  as  he  paused  on 
the  veranda,  the  water  lapping  about  it,  the  great 
trees  standing  inundated,  as  if  knee-deep,  the  glisten 
ing  expanse  of  the  overflow  stretching  out  to  the 
Mississippi  proper,  its  channel  only  to  be  now  dis 
cerned  by  the  course  of  a  steamboat  ploughing  her 
way  through  the  illimitable  floods,  no  vestige  of  a 
shore  within  view.  He  was  cheerful  in  his  leave-tak 
ing,  and  turned  in  the  skiff,  even  after  the  darkey  at 
the  oars  had  rowed  far  down  the  submerged  avenue, 
to  wave  his  hand  at  the  group  on  the  veranda,  while 
Colonel  Kentopp  moodily  pulled  his  hat  down  over  his 
eyes  with  a  muttered  "  Confound  this  glare,"  as  the 
sun  flashed  blindingly  upon  the  waste  of  waters. 

The  prominence  of  Desmond  in  the  lady's  counsels 
was  also  noticed  by  old  Mr.  Stanlett,  and  he  regarded 

312 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

it  obviously  with  jealous  distrust.  He  had  been  pecul 
iarly  favorably  impressed  by  the  young  man  during 
the  earlier  days  of  his  stay  at  Great  Oaks,  and  had 
taken  pains  to  bestow  upon  him  a  kindly  considera 
tion  and  courteous  attention,  of  which  the  tutor,  then 
fresh  to  his  duties  and  despondent,  consciously  out  of 
his  element,  was  very  definitely  sensible.  Now,  Mr. 
Stanlett  seldom  addressed  Desmond,  and  when  this  was 
necessary  he  used  a  cold  civility,  in  strong  contrast  to 
his  former  demeanor,  and  savoring  very  distinctly  of  a 
realization  of  the  inferiority  of  the  tutor's  position  and 
a  resolute  intention  of  relegating  him  to  his  proper 
sphere.  Whenever  Mrs.  Faurie  spoke  to  Desmond,  dis 
cussing  her  affairs  and  deferring  to  his  opinion,  Mr. 
Stanlett  was  wont  to  draw  his  heavy  white  eyebrows 
together  in  a  very  definite  frown,  scanning  first  one 
and  then  the  other,  an  angry  flush  mantling  his  face, 
evidently  minded  to  protest.  One  day  at  the  table, 
when  she  chanced  to  address  the  tutor  as  "Edward," 
Mr.  Stanlett  stared  as  if  startled,  then  broke  out  with 
so  satirical  and  frosty  a  laugh  that  she  looked  up  in 
surprise,  forgetting  what  she  was  about  to  say.  She 
manifested  no  confusion  nor  self-consciousness,  but 
Reginald  flushed  hotly  to  the  temples,  and  Chubby 
paused,  his  fork  in  his  hand,  and  remarked  in  callow 
affront :  "  Uncle  Clarence  seems  to  have  a  good  joke 
that  he  keeps  to  himself." 

"Just  so,  Chubby, —  a  very  good  joke — ha,  ha, 
ha  !  —  and  I  wish  to  God  I  could  keep  it  to  my 
self  !  " 

Mrs.  Faurie  had  so  far  recovered  her  composure 

313 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

and  the  tone  of  her  nerves,  greatly  imperiled  in  all 
the  anxiety  and  jeopardy  and  stress  of  the  tragic 
events  of  the  overflow,  that  Desmond  resolved  on  the 
evening  after  the  visit  of  Kentopp  and  Loring  to  defer 
no  longer  to  acquaint  her  with  his  discovery  of  the 
mystery  of  the  spectral  manifestations  at  Great  Oaks 
mansion,  and  to  surrender  to  her  keeping  the  paper 
which  he  had  seen  so  strangely  and  significantly  con 
cealed.  From  time  to  time  he  had  furtively  watched 
Mr.  Stanlett,  seeking  to  discern  if  he  had  become  aware 
of  the  abstraction  of  the  scroll  from  the  secret  drawer 
of  the  press  in  the  blue  room.  He  was  sure  that  the 
old  man  would  manifest  such  disquietude  as  would 
be  ample  evidence  that  his  caution  had  gone  amiss. 
But  Mr.  Stanlett  maintained  a  genuine  composure, 
absorbed  in  the  simple  routine  of  his  day,  —  the  mail 
from  the  packet,  or  the  neighborhood  news  brought 
by  some  amphibian  in  a  dugout  scouting  on  various 
errands  on  the  face  of  the  waters;  his  cigars;  some 
times  humming  an  old  song  and  looking  from  his  easy 
chair  placidly  out  on  the  waste  of  the  overflow.  Oc 
casionally  he  occupied  himself  in  telling  one  of  the 
boys,  or  the  three  in  conclave,  old  stories  of  war 
times,  the  gunboats  on  the  Mississippi,  the  riders  and 
raiders,  the  burning  of  cotton  — bales,  gin,  and  all  — 
by  the  soldiers  rather  than  let  the  precious  staple 
fall  into  the  enemy's  hands ;  and  again  he  abounded 
in  anecdotes  of  the  palmy  days  of  river  travel  and 
traffic,  the  tremendous  loads  of  cotton  the  freighters 
carried,  the  choice  company  on  the  floating  palaces, 
the  phenomenally  high  play  of  the  "gentleman  gam- 

314 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

biers,"  the  competitive  speed  of  the  steamers  and  de 
tails  of  the  exciting  races,  the  horrible  accidents  and 
the  frightful  picture  a  blazing  boat  presented,  a  tower 
of  flames,  as  she  came  swinging  around  Deepwater 
Bend  on  her  course.  No ;  placidity  was  the  keynote 
of  his  life  save  when  his  frown  gathered  as  his  eye 
fell  on  Desmond,  and  his  manner  stiffened,  and  his 
intonation  grew  crisp  and  icy. 

To-night,  as  they  sat  by  the  parlor  fire,  he  was  busied 
in  a  game  of  chess,  the  fashion  of  his  youth  in  which 
he  excelled.  He  had  taught  Reginald  to  play  with 
such  skill  as  to  give  him  difficulty  enough  to  maintain 
his  interest  in  reaching  the  finality  of  checkmate.  The 
other  two  boys  were  on  the  rug  romping  with  an  Irish 
setter,  and  the  dog  was  most  unwillingly  learning  to 
sit  up  and  shake  hands  and  make  a  feint  of  smoking 
an  empty  pipe.  Desmond  could  count  on  their  absorp 
tion  for  some  time  as  he  passed  the  window  on  the 
veranda  and  saw  them  there  thus  occupied.  The  moon 
was  beginning  to  steer  clear  of  a  surge  of  clouds  that 
had  hung  in  the  sky  all  the  afternoon,  presaging  rain, 
and  as  its  long,  golden  slant  fell  upon  the  waste  of 
waters  Mrs.  Faurie  rose  from  her  chair,  laid  her  book 
on  the  centre  table,  and  went  anxiously  to  the  window. 
As  she  saw  Desmond  standing  outside,  she  naturally 
supposed  that  he,  too,  was  absorbed  in  scanning  the 
signs  of  the  skies.  With  more  falling  weather  the 
waters  would  rise  anew  and  postpone,  perhaps  past 
feasibility  for  the  season,  all  the  plans  for  the  rehabili 
tation  of  the  plantation,  and  all  the  possibility  of  mak 
ing  a  crop  or  even  a  half  crop  of  cotton. 

315 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"Don't  you  think  that  it  looks  less  like  rain?" 
she  asked,  slipping  the  thumB-bolt  of  the  sash  of  the 
long  French  window  and  joining  him  at  the  balus 
trade. 

"  The  rain  has  gone  around  this  time,"  he  said.  "  I 
am  very  sure  of  that." 

It  was  difficult  for  him  to  bring  his  mind  back  to 
the  weather  signs,  bent  as  he  was  upon  the  imminent 
disclosure,  canvassing  continually  its  best  method.  He 
was  sensitive  in  submitting  his  own  conduct  for  scru 
tiny,  and  eager  for  her  approval.  He  was  solicitous 
concerning  matters  of  phraseology,  knowing  how  she 
valued  her  uncle  and  cherished  his  age,  fearful  lest 
some  unconsidered  word  off  end,  or,  worse  still,  wound 
her.  He  was  afraid  that  the  disclosure  might  involve 
some  shock  to  her  nerves.  He  did  not  know,  he  could 
not  imagine,  what  the  paper  so  significantly  hidden 
might  contain,  and  how  she  might  condemn  his  course 
in  possessing  himself  of  it.  Indeed,  she  might  deem 
that  he  had  exceeded  all  the  bounds  of  convention, 
and,  declining  to  look  at  the  paper,  require  him  to  sur 
render  it  to  Mr.  Stanlett  and  make  confession  of  his 
unwarranted  interference.  He  stood  in  silence,  his 
meditative  eyes  on  her  face  so  long  that  she  noted  his 
absorption. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  she  said  suddenly.  "  You  look 
strange,  troubled.  Surely  there  is  nothing  more 


amiss." 


"  Let  us  take  a  turn  along  the  veranda.  I  have  been 
waiting  for  days  to  tell  you  something." 

She  assented  in  silent  suspense,  and  together  they 

316 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

walked  along  the  broad,  moonlit  veranda,  the  shadows 
of  the  trees  now  and  again  falling  athwart  it,  the 
sheen  on  the  waters  striking  across  the  expanse  for 
sixty  miles,  making  a  vast  roadway  of  glister  to  the 
vague  unknown  of  the  shimmering  distance.  Her  lus 
trous  dark  eyes  with  the  moon  in  their  depths  were 
dilated,  expectant,  her  face  was  ethereally  white  and 
quietly  serious.  Her  dress  was  white,  of  a  soft,  clinging 
woolen  fabric,  with  a  stripe  of  satin  at  intervals,  that 
shone  itself  with  a  moony  lustre.  The  square-cut  bodice 
was  filled  in  with  lace  that  rose  and  fell  with  the  stir 
of  her  breath  as  she  waited,  intent  and  a  trifle  agitated. 

Desmond  began  without  preamble.  "  When  I  first 
came  to  Great  Oaks,  one  of  the  boys,  Reginald  it 
was,  told  me  of  the  step  on  the  stair." 

She  laid  her  hand  on  his  arm,  and  he  felt  the  quiver 
in  its  slim  fingers. 

"  I  had  then  heard  the  step,  once,  —  it  was  about 
midnight ;  and  I  heard  it  again,  twice,  —  the  night  of 
the  attack  on  the  house." 

"Oh,  oh,  —  I  cannot  abide  that  idea,"  she  ex 
claimed,  with  a  quiver  of  pain  in  her  voice.  "  You 
never  have  heard  me  mention  it.  I  am  sure  it  must 
be  some  fallacy, —  some"  —  She  could  not  speak 
for  gasping.  Then  she  gathered  her  composure  and 
resumed  with  dignity :  "  It  is  nothing,  —  it  is  some 
trick !  It  is  an  insult  to  the  memory  of  the  sacred 
dead.  It  was  never  pretended  to  be  heard  in  the  life 
time  of  Mr.  Faurie." 

Desmond  felt  on  difficult  ground.  "  I  think  that  no 
one  has  ever  associated  his  name  with  the  manifesta- 

317 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

tion,  though  it  is  very  natural  that  you  should  depre 
cate  that  idea.  But  the  step  is  genuine,  for  I  heard  it 
distinctly  twice  that  night ;  the  last  time  I  waited  for 
it  to  approach,  and  it  entered  the  room,  and  I  saw 
the  presence  in  the  light." 

"  Wait,  —  wait !  "  she  exclaimed,  and  he  paused, 
for  she  seemed  unable  to  advance  a  step.  The  waters 
lapped  about  the  veranda ;  the  shadows  of  the  great 
trees  were  weird  and  strange,  falling  across  the  sur 
face  of  the  flood  flowing  in  the  midst  of  the  grove ; 
the  continual  melancholy  rise  and  fall  of  the  voices 
of  frogs  sounded  from  woodsy  tangles  in  lagoons  and 
submerged  marshes ;  the  broad  lunar  lustre  quivered 
on  the  expanse  of  the  gray  waters,  and  the  moon  rode 
high,  —  high  in  the  dark  sky. 

"  Let  me  tell  you,"  he  urged.  "  I  was  standing  at 
the  window  in  the  blue  room  —  " 

"  The  blue  room,"  she  faltered,  as  if  with  some 
vague  memory. 

"  Yes,  —  where  the  wounded  man  lay.  I  heard  the 
stealthy  step  on  the  stair,  as  I  had  heard  it  twice 
before;  a  mere  slip  and  then  silence,  and  again  a 
suggestion  of  a  footfall,  coming  and  coming  up  the 
stair ;  and  I  waited  in  the  curtained  recess  of  the 
dormer  window,  —  and  the  step  paused  at  the  thresh 
old  ;  the  door  noiselessly  swung  ajar,  —  the  step  en 
tered, —  and  it  was  Mr.  Stanlett." 

"  Mr.  Stanlett !  "  she  cried,  standing  suddenly  erect 
and  strong,  her  moonlit  face  showing  a  haughty  dis 
pleasure;  "why  should  you  connect  him  with  such 
mummery  ?  " 

318 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

66  Because  I  had  heard  the  step  twice  before  and 
recognized  it ;  because  as  I  listened  to  this  step  it 
came  straight  to  the  door,  and,  as  I  say,  Mr.  Stanlett 
entered ;  because  I  identified  his  aspect  with  the  de 
scription  of  an  intruder  who  had  silently  appeared 
and  disappeared  at  the  door  earlier  in  the  evening, 
frightening  the  wounded  man  with  a  vague  terror." 

"  I  am  ashamed  to  listen,  I  am  ashamed  to  ques 
tion  ;  but  if  only  to  have  done  with  these  mysteries, 
I  will  ask  what  action  did  you  observe  Mr.  Stanlett 
to  take  while  you  lay  perdu  ? "  As  she  confronted 
him  a  proud  indignation  burned  red  in  her  cheeks 
and  her  eyes  flashed  in  the  moonlight. 

Desmond  took  umbrage  at  her  tone.  His  spirit 
mounted  as  he  felt  that  his  motives  were  entitled  to 
some  consideration  on  that  night  of  all  nights,  when 
he  had  done  so  much  for  her  and  hers  at  the  risk  of 
his  life.  It  was  in  his  mind  in  self -justification  to  tax 
her  with  this,  and  demand  the  respect  for  his  deeds 
due  to  the  integrity  of  his  intentions.  But  he,  too, 
was  proud.  If  she  could  forget  her  gratitude,  he 
could  waive  its  cause.  He  continued  to  describe,  with 
a  certain  constraint  in  his  voice,  how  the  old  man 
cautiously  advanced  to  the  bedside,  and  with  fantastic 
cocked  hat  and  disguising,  muffling  cloak  watched 
the  sleeping  man  to  make  sure  of  his  unfeigned  un 
consciousness.  She  winced  as  she  learned  that  the 
swift,  skulking  step  took  him  straight  to  the  press, 
in  which  he  hid  within  an  interior  drawer  a  scroll  of 
paper. 

Desmond  was  surprised  by  her  next  words.  "  He 
319 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

locked  the  door  of  the  press?  I  know  that  it  has  a 
key/*  she  stipulated. 

"  He  thought  he  locked  it ;  but  I  saw  that  the  bolt 
did  not  go  home." 

She  had  every  trait  of  wild  agitation.  "  Did  you 
not  speak  to  him?  Did  you  not  warn  him?  " 

"  Why  should  I?  Would  he  not  have  resented  my 
presence  as  spying  on  him?  when  even  you  resent 
my  disclosure  of  the  fact  that  you  may  give  the 
matter  such  weight  as  it  deserves." 

"Resent  it?  —  oh,  no!  no!"  She  laid  both  her 
cold  hands  on  his  as  she  stood  looking  up  into  hie 
face.  "  I  resent  nothing  from  you ;  we  all  owe  you 
too  much,  far  too  much !  But  I  am  frightened,  morti 
fied,  uncertain.  Can't  you  see  that  that  paper  must 
be  of  the  first  importance  to  be  so  secreted — setting 
such  a  superstition  afloat  in  a  simple,  domestic  house 
hold —  by  the  frankest,  the  kindest,  the  most  gentle 
of  men?  Don't  you  connect  and  interpret  now  the 
story  of  the  step  ?  —  always  heard  just  before  we  com 
plete  our  preparations  to  quit  the  country,  for  he  car 
ries  the  paper  with  him,  —  always  heard  just  when 
we  return,  for  he  brings  it  back  and  hides  it  again. 
And  last  week,  that  dark  and  dreadful  evening  when 
you  say  you  passed  the  presence,  the  step  on  the 
stair,  he  thought  that  we  must  quit  the  house  and  he 
was  doubtless  bringing  it  down.  But  after  you  had 
rescued  us  —  never,  never  imagine  that  I  forget  it 
for  one  moment !  —  he  felt  safe  again  and  took  it  to 
its  hiding-place  once  more.  And  oh,  Edward,  how 
could  you  —  so  unthinking,  so  heedless  !  —  let  him 

320 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

leave  the  door  ajar  believing  that  he  had  locked  it, — 
an  old  man,  Edward,  a  very  old  man,  —  and  make  off 
with  the  useless  key  in  his  simple  satisfaction  while 
that  scoundrel  lay  on  the  bed,  —  oh,  I  should  n't  speak 
harshly  of  the  un judged  dead! — and  his  suspicions 
had  already  been  excited,  and  perhaps  he  secured  it, 
only  having  pretended  slumber,  —  and  oh,  we  must 
see  if  it  is  really  there  still.  Say  nothing  to  Uncle 
Clarence ;  let  us  go  up  first  to  the  blue  room  and  see 
if  it  is  gone  ;  get  a  lamp,  —  let  us  go." 

Desmond  laid  a  restraining  hand  upon  her  wrist. 
"  It  is  not  there,"  he  said,  looking  down  into  her  wild, 
eager,  agitated  eyes.  "  I  saw  the  danger  of  leaving  it 
there,  and  I  secured  it  for  safe-keeping  until  I  could 
consign  it  to  your  care." 

"  And  what  —  what  —  is  it  ?  "  she  faltered. 

"  Can  you  imagine  that  I  would  so  much  as  glance 
at  it?"  he  replied  sharply.  "Stop;  here  we  are  a* 
the  library.  I  will  give  it  to  you  now." 


CHAPTER  XV 

JL  HE  fire  was  dully  drowsing  on  the  hearth ;  a  lamp 
on  the  desk  burned  dimly  with  the  wick  turned  low. 
Desmond  had  a  quick,  nervous  touch  as  he  stirred  the 
embers  into  flames,  threw  on  a  fresh  stick  of  wood, 
and  set  the  lamp  aglow.  His  sensibilities,  despite  his 
vigor  and  youth,  had  felt  the  inroads  of  all  the  agi 
tation  to  which  the  household  had  been  subjected. 
The  renewed  cheer  of  the  room  dispensed,  however, 
its  cordial  influence.  We  are  at  last  but  animal  mech 
anism,  and  must  needs  shiver  with  cold,  and  burn 
with  heat,  and  gloom  in  darkness,  and  hope  in  the 
glad  light.  Everything  seemed  suddenly  more  facile 
of  adjustment,  more  possible  of  optimistic  interpreta 
tion,  and  at  all  events  the  period  of  suspense  was 
terminated  when,  seated  at  the  desk,  he  turned  the 
key  in  the  lock  of  the  drawer  and  wheeled  in  his 
swivel-chair,  the  envelope  in  his  hand. 

"  Here  it  is,  at  last,  —  all  safe,"  he  said,  in  his 
firm,  clear  voice. 

Mrs.  Faurie,  who  had  sunk  down  on  the  end  of 
the  sofa,  almost  collapsing  in  uncertainty  and  agita 
tion  and  dubious  foreboding,  her  hands  pressed  to 
her  eyes,  roused  herself  as  the  room  sprang  into  its 
wonted  cheerful  guise  and  lifted  her  head.  She  did 
not  immediately  take  the  paper  as  Desmond  held  it 
out  to  her.  She  adjusted  a  sofa-pillow  under  her  elbow, 
and  set  her  dainty  foot  on  a  hassock  on  the  floor, 

322 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

and  piled  up  the  supporting  cushions,  —  hesitating, 
contriving  hindrance,  postponing  the  evil  moment. 

"  I  am  afraid  of  entering  upon  some  hasty  action 
and  that  I  may  afterward  regret  my  precipitancy," 
she  temporized. 

"  I  should  advise  you  to  be  deliberate,"  he  rejoined. 
"  From  what  we  know  of  the  history  of  this  paper,  it 
would  not  seem  to  press  for  action." 

"  And  yet  delay  might  be  prejudicial,"  she  said, 
eager  when  not  opposed.  She  held  out  her  hand  for 
it,  and  then  drew  back,  once  more  doubtful.  She  had 
grown  calm,  and  she  looked  deeply  meditative  as  she 
leaned  forward  in  her  soft,  clinging  white  dress  from 
amongst  the  dull  crimson  silk  cushions,  her  slim,  jew 
eled  hand  extended,  yet  not  touching  the  paper  that 
he  held  out  to  her  as  he  sat  near  by  in  the  chair 
before  the  desk.  "But  have  I  the  right  to  examine 
it  ?  "  she  argued.  "  It  may  not  concern  me  or  mine. 
Mr.  Stanlett  has  affairs  of  his  own,  no  doubt,  into 
which  I  am  not  privileged  to  intrude." 

"  His  course  has  been  very  eccentric,"  said  Des 
mond,  tingling  with  impatience  to  reach  a  conclusion, 
yet  not  willing  to  urge  her  decision,  and  weighing 
considerately  her  every  argument  and  scruple.  "  He 
has  carried  on  for  years,  apparently,  a  very  elaborate 
and  mysterious  emprise  of  concealing  a  document 
which,  if  it  were  his  own,  might  be  considered  safe 
enough  among  his  valuable  papers.  His  midnight 
comings  and  goings  have  given  rise,  as  he  knew,  to 
a  theory  of  spectral  manifestation  in  the  house  which 
might  be  very  injurious  to  young  minds,  and  even, 

323 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

in  default  of  all  explanation,  to  elder  people.  He 
went  so  far  as  to  foster  this  theory  by  a  semi-disguise 
as  a  precaution  against  recognition  should  he  be 
unwarily  glimpsed." 

Then  they  both  sat  silent  while  the  freshened  fire 
glowed  red  in  the  room,  and  the  lamp  dispensed  its 
steady,  white  light,  and  the  great  windows  revealed 
the  moon  shoaling  on  the  vast  stretch  of  silvery 
water,  with  the  shadows  of  the  trees  on  its  expanse 
below,  and  the  dendroidal  forms  towering  high  into 
the  pearl-tinted  sky,  —  all  seeming  some  strange, 
mystic,  illuminated  tangle  of  enchanted  forest  and 
lake,  full  of  dreams  and  vagaries,  of  quivering  radi 
ance  and  yearning  melancholy,  under  a  spell,  per 
petual,  somehow,  and  far  away  from  to-morrow. 

"  But  I  feel  as  you  do,"  Desmond  recommenced  after 
a  moment  of  reflection.  "From  the  first  I  doubted 
my  right  to  touch  it.  Still,  it  has  occurred  to  me  that 
in  view  of  his  age  and  its  possible  relation  to  his 
eccentric  actions  in  this  matter,  and  also  in  view  of 
your  position  as  the  head  of  this  house  in  which 
these  practices  have  come  to  your  knowledge,  you 
might  justifiably  open  the  package,  and  glance  at  its 
contents  sufficiently  to  discern  if  they  concern  you. 
If  they  do  not,  then  I  will  restore  the  papers  to  him 
and  apologize  as  well  as  I  can  for  my  interference." 

"  I  believe  you  are  right,"  she  conceded.  She  took 
the  envelope  from  his  hand.  Even  then  she  drew  back. 
"  The  seal !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  I  cannot  break  a  seal." 

"  That  is  only  my  seal,"  Desmond  explained.  "  I 
put  it  on  to  protect  the  papers  from  interference." 

324 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

She  leaned  toward  the  desk  to  catch  the  light 
on  the  papers,  broke  the  seal,  and  drew  out  two  in- 
closures,  one  a  document  of  length,  the  other  evi 
dently  a  letter. 

"  It  is  mine  !  —  mine  !  "  she  cried  wildly.  She  gave 
a  gasp,  her  free  hand  fluttering  nervously.  "  It  is  my 
husband's  handwriting,"  she  whispered  in  a  reverent, 
awed  tone,  as  if  consciously  in  an  unseen  presence. 

Then,  as  her  brilliant  eyes  scanned  the  lines,  shift 
ing  from  side  to  side  as  she  read,  the  color  surged 
up  into  her  cheeks  and  her  lips  curved  in  a  radiant 
smile.  Suddenly  she  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears,  her 
words,  as  she  sought  to  speak,  breaking  into  gusts  of 
happy  laughter,  her  brimming  eyes  looking  into  his 
with  eagerness  to  disclose  the  tenor  of  the  papers,  yet 
in  her  agitation  her  powers  of  speech  failing,  inade 
quate.  "  It  is  such  happiness,  —  happiness,  —  happi 
ness  ! "  was  all  that  she  could  say. 

Once  more  she  strove  to  read,  but  her  voice  broke 
and  trailed  off  into  a  sob  that  was  yet  like  a  gurgle 
of  laughter.  "  Read  it,"  —  she  handed  it  to  him. 
"  Read  the  letter  —  I  'd  rather  have  it  than  all  the 
diamonds  of  Golconda  !  " 

As  Desmond  straightened  the  pages,  he  saw  that 
it  was  addressed  to  a  lawyer  of  Memphis,  whom  he 
knew  to  be  the  executor  of  the  will  of  the  late  Mr. 
Faurie,  and  in  fact  this  letter  related  to  that  instru 
ment.  He  desired  to  alter  certain  dispositions  of  this 
will,  the  writer  said,  although  mailed  so  recently  as 
by  the  last  packet,  and  he  stated  that  he  had  set  forth 
these  changes  in  a  paper  that  he  inclosed,  duly  signed 

325 


THE  FAIR  M  ISSISSIPPI  AN 

and  witnessed,  and  which  he  pronounced  a  codicil  to 
his  last  will  and  testament. 

"  It  is,  I  doubt  not,  a  poor  performance,"  he  wrote, 
"  in  comparison  with  the  admirable  instrument  that 
you  drew  with  such  care  and  skill ;  but  it  will  hold, 
and  I  cannot  hope  to  have  a  lawyer  to  come  to  Great 
Oaks  in  time  to  take  my  instructions  for  the  codicil, 
for  I  fear  that  my  days  are  at  an  end  indeed."  The 
writer  went  on  to  explain  that  he  had  grown  dissatis 
fied  with  the  provision  which  he  had  directed  to  be 
made  in  the  will  for  his  wife.  He  had  desired  that  she 
should  enjoy  as  large  an  income  as  practicable,  and 
that  she  should  not  be  burdened  with  the  manage 
ment  of  real  estate  other  than  her  home  place,  unless 
she  should  herself  elect  to  make  such  investments  with 
the  surplusage  of  her  income.  Hence  he  had  thought 
best  not  to  assign  to  her  the  usual  one  third  life-in 
terest  in  his  property,  but  an  annuity  of  thirty  thou 
sand  dollars  during  widowhood,  which  was  a  larger 
income  than  her  statute  right  to  dower  in  Tennessee 
could  justify,  and  chargeable  upon  the  whole  estate, 
and  he  had  given  her  also,  subject  to  the  same  restric 
tions,  his  plantation,  Great  Oaks,  the  annual  yield 
from  which  necessarily  fluctuated  according  to  the 
season.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  interest  of  the 
three  sons  in  the  rest  of  the  property  was  to  remain 
undivided  during  minority,  that  the  estate  could  be 
nursed  to  better  advantage.  It  was  to  be  partitioned, 
or  sold  for  division,  when  the  youngest  became  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  the  elder  two,  however,  to  receive  a 
certain  sum  of  money  upon  attaining  majority,  for  the 

326 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

purchase  of  business  interests,  that  they  might  not 
pass  in  inaction  the  years  of  waiting  for  the  division 
of  the  whole  and  the  possession  of  their  respective 
shares. 

"  So  thoughtful,"  murmured  Mrs.  Faurie. 

It  had  seemed  to  him,  the  writer  stated,  that  the 
three  sons  would  be  rich  enough  when  they  came 
severally  to  their  majority,  and  could  well  spare  the 
aggregations  of  such  portion  of  the  income  of  the 
estate  as  he  had  assigned  to  the  use  of  their  mother, 
over  and  above  her  rightful  share,  in  order  that  she 
might  have  no  reasonable  wish  ungratified. 

"  Oh,  to  be  thinking  of  that  in  those  awful  last 
days  !  "  she  interpolated,  her  flush  fluctuating,  and 
once  more  bursting  into  tears. 

"  I  should  like  her  to  travel,  for  this  she  enjoys," 
the  letter  continued.  "  I  should  like  her  to  see  the 
world,  and  that  others  might  have  the  privilege  and 
benefaction  of  seeing  her,  as  I  could  wish  that  no  one 
should  be  beyond  the  reach  of  the  sunshine.  And 
with  all  this  in  view  I  directed  you,  as  you  know,  to 
draw  the  will  as  it  stands." 

Forthwith  he  entered  upon  a  systematic  defense  of 
his  motives  and  views  in  the  corollaries  necessitated 
by  these  provisions  embodied  in  the  instrument. 
While  he  had  no  crude  jealousy,  he  protested,  and 
would  not  seek  to  curb  his  widow's  independence  in 
making  a  second  marriage,  he  was  not  willing  that 
the  extra  income  allotted  to  her  should  go  into  the 
control  of  a  stranger  at  the  expense  of  the  estates 
of  his  sons.  It  was  one  thing,  he  argued,  to  restrict 

327 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

the  wealth  of  his  sons  for 'their  mother's  benefit. 
It  was  quite  another  thing  to  take  from  them  to 
enrich  a  stranger,  who  might  or  might  not  be  of 
mercenary  motives,  of  ungenerous  temper,  or  of  undue 
domestic  ascendency,  and  who  might  or  might  not 
permit  her  the  free  use  of  what  was  her  own.  Then, 
too,  the  subjection  of  the  estates  of  the  sons  to  the 
charge  of  her  income  under  the  circumstances  of  a 
second  marriage  was  of  discordant  suggestion ;  possi 
bly,  in  the  unforeseen  mutations  of  human  affairs, 
even  subversive  of  their  independence,  and  inimical 
to  family  peace.  Therefore  he  had  had  the  clause  in 
serted  revoking  the  allotment  of  her  income  should 
she  marry  again,  and  substituting  as  her  provision  one 
fourth  of  the  Mississippi  property  in  fee,  and  a  life- 
interest  in  one  third  of  the  Tennessee  realty  including, 
in  lieu  of  Great  Oaks,  his  town  residence  in  the  city 
of  Nashville,  the  rest  of  the  estate  in  that  event  to  be 
sold  for  division,  that  the  portion  of  each  devisee 
might  be  ascertained  and  set  apart. 

These  were  his  reasons  for  such  disposition  as  he 
had  made  of  his  property.  Now,  however,  since  he 
had  executed  and  forwarded  the  will  to  his  executor, 
he  had  begun  to  fear  that  this  matrimonial  clause 
would  be  misunderstood  by  Mrs.  Faurie,  whose  feel 
ing  for  him  it  might  possibly  affect,  all  unexplained 
as  it  was. 

"  But  never !  —  never !  "  she  sobbed.  "  I  always 
realized  that  you  were  actuated  by  the  best  motives 
for  what  you  deemed  the  welfare  of  all  concerned. 
But  I  am  so  happy  to  know  why  you  did  it !  " 

328 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

Desmond  paused,  a  strange  thrill  at  his  heart  as 
he  gazed  at  her.  She  might  have  been  some  young 
girl  in  the  childlike  abandonment  to  her  tears,  as 
she  leaned  on  the  arm  of  the  sofa,  her  long  white 
dress  a-trail  on  the  dark  carpet,  her  scarlet  cheek 
against  her  upheld  bare  white  arm,  her  lovely  hands 
clasped  above  her  drooping  head.  Desmond's  voice 
was  strained,  husky,  with  sudden  breaks  as  he 
read  on. 

Upon  further  reflection,  the  writer  stated,  the  pro 
visions  he  had  made  in  the  will  for  Mrs.  Faurie  in 
the  event  of  a  second  marriage  had  become  obnox 
ious  to  him.  He  had  accorded  her  merely  the  equiva 
lent  of  her  dower  rights,  such  as  the  law  would  allow 
her  were  he  to  die  intestate,  or  were  she  to  dissent 
from  the  will.  In  effect,  he  seemed  to  make  a  point 
of  giving  her  nothing  in  the  contemplated  contin 
gency  that  he  could  avoid  giving.  He  had  not 
intended  thus  to  interdict  a  second  marriage,  and  her 
right  to  order  her  life  after  her  widowhood  as  she 
chose,  according  to  her  most  excellent  judgment. 

"  Oh/'  cried  Mrs.  Faurie,  with  a  little  irrelevant 
laugh,  not  for  Desmond,  but  as  if  she  rallied  the 
writer  with  the  extravagance  of  his  approval. 

Therefore,  the  testator  declared,  he  had  revoked  in 
set  terms  both  the  dispositions  of  a  life-interest  in  the 
real  estate  in  reference  to  a  second  marriage,  and 
the  imposition  of  a  charge  for  her  benefit  upon  the 
realty  of  the  whole  estate  during  widowhood.  In 
stead,  he  had  thought  best  to  devise  to  her  absolutely 
one  fourth  of  the  real  estate  in  fee,  inclusive  of  Great 

329 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Oaks,  which  he  considered  particularly  desirable  be 
cause  of  its  income-bearing  values,  the  other  three 
fourths  to  be  equally  divided  between  his  three  sons. 

He  added  some  words  setting  forth  arrangements 
for  the  guidance  of  the  executor  in  regard  to  disburse 
ments  for  maintenance,  emergencies,  and  education 
of  the  minors,  pending  an  interval  which  he  evidently 
anticipated  would  endure  for  a  considerable  time, 
before  the  estate  could  be  fairly  administered.  This 
depended  upon  the  conclusion  of  a  certain  litigation 
involving  some  conditional  increments,  then  in  abey 
ance.  When  a  decision  should  be  reached,  and  these 
assets  realized  upon,  he  directed  that  the  whole  estate 
should  be  partitioned;  and  in  order  that  the  several 
shares  might  be  justly  ascertained,  the  portion  of  each 
of  the  minors  should  be  chargeable  with  such  expend 
itures  as  had  been  made  for  him  during  the  interim, 
and  the  portion  of  the  widow  should  be  chargeable 
with  such  sums  as  she  had  received  from  the  funds  of 
the  estate  ;  but  she  should  not  be  obliged  to  put  also 
into  the  common  stock  for  division  the  profits  from 
any  investments  that  she  had  made,  or  accretions  of 
value,  of  whatever  sort,  that  had  accrued  from  means 
derived  from  the  estate. 

Desmond  stared  blankly  at  the  paper  for  a  few 
moments  after  he  had  concluded  the  reading  of  the 
letter.  "  Did  the  executor  win  the  suit  to  which  he 
refers?" 

"  Oh,  yes, — in  the  infinitely  leisurely  legal  fashion. 
It  would  go  up  to  the  Supreme  Court  and  be  remanded 
on  a  certain  point,  and  then  it  would  go  up  on  another 

330 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

and  come  down  as  before.  It  was  a  sort  of  legal  shut 
tlecock.  I  was  amazed  when  I  heard  that  the  lawyers 
were  through  playing  with  it." 

Desmond  could  not  control  the  cadence  of  depres 
sion  in  his  voice.  "  How  long  ago  was  it  decided  ?  " 
he  asked,  hoping  against  hope. 

"  A  little  more  than  a  year,  I  believe." 
Evidently,  the  lapse  of  time  could  not  be  a  potential 
factor  in  the  impending  future.  The  contingent  event 
on  which  the  partitioning  was  conditioned  by  the  codi 
cil  had  just  fallen  out,  and  the  rest  of  the  estate,  save 
for  the  aggregations  of  income  and  the  depletion  of 
expenditures,  was  much  as  the  testator  had  left  it, 
for  the  executor  had  no  general  powers  of  sale.  Des 
mond  could  see  no  reason  why  this  codicil  should  not 
be  admitted  to  probate  and  at  once  subvert  the  exist 
ing  status.  Technically,  it  was  itself  a  part  of  the  will 
already  in  force,  though  its  provisions  were  pro  tanto 
a  revocation  of  the  previous  testamentary  disposition. 
The  indeterminate  interval  after  probate  in  common 
form  allowed  in  Tennessee,  where  the  bulk  of  the 
property  was  situated,  for  the  institution  of  revoca- 
tory  proceedings ;  the  disability  of  non-age  in  the 
minors,  to  whom  laches  could  hardly  be  imputed ;  the 
fact  that  it  was  manifestly  impossible  for  their  guard 
ian  to  take  any  action  in  view  of  the  unsuspected  ex 
istence  of  the  codicil  of  which  the  executor  was  the 
proper  proponent,  would  seem  to  annul  all  obstacles 
to  its  effectiveness,  despite  any  complications  with 
which  the  conflict  of  laws  in  the  two  sovereign  states 
might  otherwise  invest  the  situation,  the  statutes  of 

331 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

each  of  course  controlling  the  realty  within  their  re 
spective  borders. 

There  was  silence  for  a  time.  Both  looked  out  from 
the  mellow  light  of  the  room  through  the  windows  on 
that  pale  scape  of  moonlit  mist  and  water  and  mystic 
woods,  all  in  pearly  neutral  tones,  soft,  sheeny,  white, 
like  some  dream  scene,  full  of  weird  suggestions  and 
dim  spectacular  configurations.  Now  there  was  a  float 
ing  island,  distant,  half  descried  ;  now  a  flying,  gauzy, 
vaporous  figure,  with  feet  touching  the  surface  of  the 
water,  and  hands  laid  against  the  star-studded  gates 
of  the  sky ;  now  a  phantom  craft  under  full  sail,  with 
clouds  of  tenuous  canvas  and  streaming  pennants  of 
mist.  She  saw  naught,  busied  with  her  memories  ;  and 
he,  strangely  grudging,  sought  for  words  to  snatch 
her  from  them. 

"  You  must  look  at  the  codicil,"  he  said,  holding 
the  document  out  toward  her. 

"  I  don't  care  for  that  —  heavens,  how  I  love  that 
letter  !  "  and  once  more  she  burst  into  tears.  She  rose 
after  a  moment  to  reach  for  it,  and  then  she  read  it 
anew,  with  sudden  gurgles  of  tender  laughter  and 
sobs  and  gushes  of  tears. 

"  I  suppose  that  this  codicil  will,  to  this  extent,  re 
voke  the  provisions  of  the  will  that  has  stood  all  this 
time,"  he  said.  He  was  no  lawyer,  but  he  had  a  defi 
nite  understanding  of  the  ways  of  the  business  world 
and  the  justice  of  its  methods.  A  very  appalling  pos 
sibility  began  to  open  before  him.  He  leaned  forward 
and  turned  the  upper  corner  of  the  pages  of  the  letter, 
still  in  her  hands,  to  look  once  more  at  the  date, 

332 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

IN    '  '  '  '  V^, 

written  evidently  only  the  day  before  the  testator's 
death. 

"  It  has  been  a  good  many  years,"  he  said,  in  dis 
mal  forecast. 

"Oh,  forever !  "  she  exclaimed,  the  tears  coursing 
down  her  cheeks. 

He  had  begun  to  understand  the  quandary  of  the 
poor  ghost,  slipping  slyly  about  the  midnight  quiet 
of  the  house  to  conceal  this  bit  of  paper,  potent  de 
stroyer  of  its  peace.  He  doubted  the  policy  of  putting 
into  words  the  fear  in  his  mind.  But  he  must  have 
her  attention.  He  clutched  at  her  thoughts  with  im 
perative  insistence.  Those  memories,  those  gentle, 
tender  memories  in  which  he  had  no  share,  —  how 
desolate,  how  deserted  they  left  him  !  His  jealous  re 
proach  was  in  his  eyes,  all  unnoted.  His  indignation 
burned  red  in  his  cheek.  A  figment,  a  recollection, 
pervaded  the  room  and  annulled  his  presence.  But  he 
would  not  be  ignored,  forgotten,  denied.  He  grasped 
at  her  attention  as  a  child  clutches  the  skirts  of  its 
unthinking  mother,  and  persists  in  its  plea. 

"  In  this  division  the  executor  may  make  a  claim 
on  you  for  the  income  that  you  have  spent.  It  strikes 
me  that  this  will  operate  as  the  equivalent  of  a  re 
funding  bond." 

"  Let  them  take  everything.  I  have  this  letter ! " 
and  she  clasped  it  to  her  bosom. 

He  had  a  sense  of  turning  aside.  He  could  not 
move  her.  He  opened  the  codicil  himself  and  scanned 
its  contents.  It  duplicated  the  intendment  of  the  let 
ter,  but  in  more  formal  and  lucid  phrase.  A  very 

333 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 


exact  and  strict  man  of  business  Mr.  Faurie  showed 
himself  to  be  in  this  paper.  Desmond  was  impressed 
with  this  fact,  yet  dismayed  in  a  sort,  in  regard  to  the 
accuracy  of  the  accounting  which  the  testator  con 
templated  between  the  minors  and  widow  at  the  parti 
tioning  of  his  estate.  He  even  superfluously  directed 
that  the  difference  of  age  among  the  children  should 
be  considered  and  the  actual  outlay  for  each  charged, 
and  not  merely  an  approximation  of  expense  as  ap 
plied  to  each  of  them ;  since  the  expenditure  for  the 
youngest  might  for  a  time  be  more,  in  view  of  extra 
attendance,  elaborate  attire,  and  special  liability  to  ail 
ments,  and  later  less  than  the  disbursements  for  the 
elder  boys.  Desmond  might  have  laughed,  yet  he  could 
have  wept,  that  the  testator,  despite  his  evident  astute 
ness,  should  have  permitted  himself  the  simplicity  of 
anticipating  that  Mrs.  Faurie  would  have  applied  any 
portion  of  her  receipts  from  the  estate  to  investments 
of  real  property  or  the  acquisition  of  other  assets  that 
would  yield  "  accretions  of  value."  As  well  might  one 
expect  the  sun  to  hoard  its  gold  or  the  bird  its  song  of 
spring.  No !  nearly  seven  years  of  joyous,  open-handed 
dispensing  of  all  her  income  from  the  estate  were  thus 
chargeable  against  the  one  fourth  in  fee  of  realty  and 
of  the  personalty  that  formed  her  liberal  portion.  How 
much  this  might  be,  Desmond  of  course  was  not  quali 
fied  to  judge;  but  the  ravages  in  this  provision  which 
the  restoration  of  that  great  income  for  nearly  seven 
years  must  needs  work  might  well  appall  the  pallid 
Mr.  Stanlett  in  his  niece's  interest,  and  set  astalk  the 
storied  spectre,  the  Slip-Slinksy  of  the  midnight  stairs. 

334  " 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

"  Mr.  Stanlett  must  have  found  this  paper  in  some 
unaccustomed  receptacle,"  Desmond  hazarded. 

Mrs.  Faurie  sat  stiffly  erect.  This  phase  troubled 
her  more  than  the  fear  of  the  financial  loss  ;  it  touched 
her  pride.  Her  level  eyehrows  were  corrugated  into 
a  frown.  Her  eyes  were  bright,  hard,  restlessly  glanc 
ing.  But  she  bent  her  faculties  to  the  consideration 
calmly.  "  Perhaps,"  she  said  thoughtfully,  but  her  lips 
were  stiff ;  they  moved  with  difficulty  to  frame  the  words 
so  distasteful  to  her.  "  It  was  understood  that  all  Mr. 
Faurie's  important  papers  were  already  in  the  hands  of 
his  executor.  He,  himself,  had  them  transferred  some 
time  before  his  death,  —  it  was  not  unexpected." 

She  was  silent  for  a  few  moments,  looking1  reflec- 

7  O 

tively  out  of  the  window.  "  I  remember  that  the  rest 
of  the  papers,  account-books,  packages  of  letters, 
files,  and  all  such  things  were  taken  out  of  the  library 
soon  after  Mr.  Faurie's  death  and,  without  examina 
tion,  placed  in  japanned  boxes  and  locked  in  the 
press  of  the  blue  room.  It  was  presumed  that  there 
was  nothing  of  real  importance  among  them,  but 
they  were  preserved  on  the  chance.  He  must  have 
written  this  codicil  and  letter  the  day  before  his 
death,  —  both  are  dated  on  the  18th,  —  and  had  the 
paper  witnessed  and  laid  it  aside  among  the  other 
papers  in  his  desk,  intending  to  forward  it  to  Mr. 
Hartagous  in  Memphis.  The  mail  packet  was  due  the 
next  day,  and  passed  about  dnsk  ;  he  died  just  before 
candle-light  that  evening,  and  I  dare  say  this  paper 
was  among  those  in  his  desk  that  were  packed  away 
in  the  press  of  the  blue  room." 

335 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

"I  suppose  that  this  codicil  must  have  been  found 
some  years  afterward,"  Desmond  dolefully  suggested. 
"Mr.  Stanlett  seems  to  me  to  be  a  man  of  good  busi 
ness  judgment.  He  would  never  have  desired  to  con 
ceal  this  paper  if  a  great  part  of  those  liabilities  had 
not  been  already  incurred.  Of  course  he  had  only  your 
interest  in  view.  He  has  sufficient  means  of  his 
own.  It  is  nothing  to  him."  She  brought  herself 
more  willingly  to  follow  his  line  of  thought,  since 
she  perceived  justification,  in  some  poor  sort,  in  the 
perspective,  for  Mr.  Stanlett's  aberrations. 

"  I  remember,"  she  said  drawlingly,  as  if  the  recol 
lection  had  just  begun  to  trail  its  dubious  length  into 
her  mind,  "  that  about  three  years  ago  the  executor 
called  for  some  old  levee  bonds,  on  which  the  estate 
was  entitled  to  something,  and  asked  that  the  papers 
here  be  searched  for  them." 

"  Who  made  this  search,  —  do  you  recollect?" 

She  visibly  winced  from  the  inquiry,  but  she  an 
swered  with  her  usual  directness :  "  I  recollect  very 
well  that  it  was  Uncle  Clarence  who  made  the  search  ; 
and  now  that  it  seems  to  bear  upon  the  question, 
I  do  recall  that  he  was  much  out  of  sorts  afterward. 
I  remember  that  his  petulance  astonished  me.  He 
was  never  a  profane  man,  but  he  swore  violently 
because  the  executor  had  given  him  so  much  trouble, 
and  declared  that  if  he  had  wanted  to  be  set  to  a  clerk's 
work,  he  would  have  asked  for  a  clerk's  pay.  And 
he  said  that  the  papers  were  disordered  and  dusty 
and  devilish,  and  that  he  had  broken  himself  down  in 
working  amongst  them.  I  was  a  little  hurt  by  the  tone 

336 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

he  was  taking ;  and  when  I  said  that  I  was  sorry  he 
had  put  himself  out  to  do  a  favor  for  me,  he  replied 
very  significantly,  ( A  favor,  —  for  you,  Honoria,  — 
for  you  ?  Why,  I  would  eat  off  my  little  finger  for 
you.9  And  oh,  poor  old  Uncle  Clarence !  We  must 
keep  him  from  ever  suspecting  that  we  have  discov 
ered  his  course.  It  would  humiliate  him ;  it  would 
bow  him  down  to  the  earth  with  mortification." 

Desmond  looked  dumfounded.  "  I  don't  see  how 
we  can  prevent  it.  This  codicil  must  be  produced, 
and  at  once." 

"  Of  course ;  but  will  it  be  necessary  to  publish  all 
the  details,  his  fantastic  masquerades  and  midnight 
vigils  to  protect  its  concealment  ?  "  she  argued. 

"  His  course  has  been  very  strange,  certainly." 
Then,  after  a  pause,  "  In  fact,  I  am  confident  that  con 
cealing  a  document  of  this  sort,  a  will  or  codicil,  to 
prevent  it  from  being  proved  and  becoming  operative, 
is  obnoxious  to  the  law,  —  a  very  serious  matter,"  said 
Desmond,  nerving  himself  for  her  storm  of  protest. 

"  He  has  not  prevented  it  from  becoming  opera 
tive,"  she  retorted  frostily.  "  The  codicil  is  discov 
ered  and  will  be  sent  to-morrow  to  the  executor,  who 
will  at  once  secure  the  two  subscribing  witnesses, — 
the  same  who  swore  to  the  will  in  force,  —  both  still 
living,  and  will  offer  the  codicil  for  probate.  I  will 
ha,ve  to  return  the  money  that  I  have  spent  out  of 
the  different  provision  now  made  for  me.  I  see  no 
sense  in  telling  our  little  yarn  of  Slip-Slinksy,  and 
blue  room,  and  secret  drawers,  for  all  the  world  to 
guy  and  laugh  at,  and  mortify  poor  old  Uncle  Clarence 

337 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

to  the  soul.  Oh,  poor,  poor  Uncle  Clarence,  —  how 
his  discovery  of  the  codicil  must  have  tortured  him ! 
What  must  he  have  felt  for  me  !  It  must  have  turned 
his  brain,  —  it  must  have  crazed  him.  That  is  the 
explanation  of  his  course,  —  that  is  the  solution  of 
the  mystery." 

Desmond  did  not  conceive  it  necessary  to  contend 
on  this  theory.  At  first  glimpse  it  seemed  to  him 
a  remarkably  coherent  scheme  for  a  disordered  brain 
to  evolve,  and  one  which  only  a  strange  accident  had 
frustrated.  Mr.  Stanlett,  however,  was  very  old,  and 
it  may  have  been  that  at  first  he  had  withheld  the 
paper  in  the  frantic,  senile,  foolish  expectation  that 
another  will  might  be  found,  not  so  destructive  to  his 
niece's  interest  as  this  codicil,  which,  by  reason  of  the 
time  that  had  elapsed  in  her  enjoyment  of  the  estate 
that  was  not  hers  by  right,  had  practically  beggared 
her.  Doubtless  lie  had  postponed  the  disclosure  from 
day  to  day,  the  disaster  augmented  by  his  delay,  till 
perchance  the  pressure  on  his  brain  had  resulted  in 
subverting  his  reason.  He  had  always  intended  to 
bring  it  forth,  some  day,  —  some  day,  —  for  he  had 
carefully  preserved  it  at  great  cost  of  anxiety  and 
suspense  and  comfort,  when  its  easy  destruction  would 
have  given  him  security,  and  confirmed  the  existing 
status  which  was  so  happy  for  all  concerned. 

Realizing  as  Desmond  did  the  magnitude  of  the 
disaster,  that  the  interests  of  the  widow  so  tend  rly, 
so  richly  provided  for,  had  been  wrecked  by  the  ex 
treme  of  the  solicitude  exerted  for  her  welfare,  he  was 
utterly  unprepared  for  the  airy  lightness  and  cou- 

338 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

summate  tact  with  which  Mrs.  Faurie  made  the  disclos 
ure  without  revealing  the  discovery  of  the  concealment 
of  the  codicil. 

She  came  fluttering  into  the  parlor  the  next  morn 
ing  when  were  present  all  the  family,  Mr.  Bainbridge, 
the  manager,  and  Colonel  Kentopp,  who  had  been 
out  in  a  skiff  to  a  passing  packet  and  had  paused  on 
his  way  back  to  Dryad-Dene  to  leave  some  newspa 
pers.  "  What  do  you  suppose  ?  "  she  cried.  "  I  can 
tell  you  news  more  astonishing  to  our  neighborhood 
than  anything  you  are  likely  to  hear  from  the  out 
side  world.  You  know  that  of  course  we  had  the  blue 
room  upstairs,  where  that  wounded  river  pirate  died, 
thoroughly  overhauled,  and  in  one  of  the  big  presses 
in  the  wall  Mr.  Desmond  found  a  secret  drawer,  and 
in  it  a  later  will  of  Mr.  Faurie's,  —  are  you  not  sur 
prised  ?  —  a  codicil  it  is,  I  should  have  said." 

Mr.  Stanlett  stared  for  a  moment  blankly,  rose  to 
his  feet,  essayed  to  speak,  and  sank  back  very  pale 
and  entirely  unobserved  amidst  the  excitement  of  the 
others. 

"  Regularly  executed  ?  "  Colonel  Kentopp  inquired, 
amazed. 

"A  codicil  all  in  his  own  handwriting,"  said  Mrs. 
Faurie, "  perfectly  regular,  with  the  same  witnesses  as 
the  will." 

"  To  your  advantage,  I  hope,"  said  Colonel  Ken 
topp,  his  glossy  hazel-nut  eyes  glittering,  his  eager 
curiosity  difficult  to  control. 

"  Oh,  I  am  perfectly  satisfied,"  Mrs.  Faurie  de 
clared,  smiling  proudly ;  and  Colonel  Kentopp  knew  as 

339 


THE    FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

well  as  if  he  had  seen  the  instrument  that  Mrs.  Faurie 
had  been  relegated  to  a  designated  share  of  the  real 
estate,  out  of  which  she  would  be  required  to  make 
good  her  lavish  expenditures  heretofore.  He  was  not 
indisposed  to  rejoice  after  the  manner  of  men  of 
his  kind  in  the  disasters  of  others,  but  presently  his 
spirits  fell.  This  change  boded  doubtless  the  parti 
tioning  of  the  Faurie  property,  and  with  Great  Oaks 
on  the  market,  he  knew  that  there  was  scant  hope  of 
Loring  as  a  purchaser  of  Dryad-Dene.  So  ill  at  ease 
was  he  under  this  theory,  so  suddenly  out  of  counte 
nance,  that  he  sought  to  avoid  observation,  and  made 
haste  to  conclude  his  call  and  get  himself  away. 

He  was  promptly  followed  by  Bainbridge,  dully 
pondering  on  the  news,  half  stunned  by  the  revela 
tion,  and  apprehensive  of  a  change  in  the  ownership 
of  Great  Oaks  and  the  jeopardy  of  his  own  employ 
ment  there. 

Desmond  breathed  more  freely  when  both  were 
gone ;  he  felt  that  he  could  not  have  summoned  the 
nerve  that  Mrs.  Faurie  had  shown  in  risking  the  dis 
closure  in  the  presence  of  others,  although  he  realized 
that,  had  Mr.  Stanlett  spoken  inconsiderately,  it  would 
have  been  ascribed  to  the  vagaries  of  age  and  his 
natural  and  extreme  disappointment,  —  in  effect,  the 
overthrow  of  his  reason  in  so  signal  a  misfortune  to 
his  nearest  and  dearest  relative,  who  had  always  been 
like  a  duteous  daughter  to  him.  Nevertheless,  Des 
mond  was  glad  that  surprise  and  dismay  had  held  the 
old  gentleman  silent  till  only  the  family  group  was 
present.  In  the  disclosure  Mrs.  Faurie  had  stated  the 

340 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

literal  truth,  that  Desmond  had  found  the  codicil  in 
a  secret  drawer,  and  Mr.  Stanlett  accepted  it  without 
demur  or  suspicion  of  the  further  discovery  of  his 
knowledge  of  the  cache,  or  agency  and  motive  in 
its  concealment. 

"  But  why,  and  how,  and  when,  in  the  name  of  all 
that  is  sacred  sir,"  the  old  man  said,  scarlet,  trem 
bling,  his  eyes  blazing,  and  scarcely  able  to  keep  his 
feet,  "should  you  go  rummaging  around  into  the 
secret  drawers  of  a  locked  press  ?  " 

"  The  press  was  not  locked,"  Desmond  said,  with 
out  looking  up,  and  trifling  with  the  violets  in  a  glass 
bowl  in  the  centre  of  the  table  beside  which  he  sat. 
"  The  bolt  did  not  reach  the  slot." 

"  And  why  did  you  send  it  off  without  consulting 
me,  Honoria?  Another  will  might  yet  be  found.  I 
have  searched  and  searched.  Another  will  and  a  later 
one  is  now  right  among  those  papers  in  the  blue 
room.  Oh,  how  many  nights,  how  many  nights  I 
have  searched !  " 

"  Dear  Uncle  Clarence,  the  codicil  was  written  and 
dated  and  witnessed  on  the  18th,  and  my  husband 
died  the  night  of  the  19th." 

"  Plenty  of  time  for  another  will,  —  Faurie  was  a 
most  expeditious  man  of  business.  He  was  not  bed 
ridden,  as  you  know.  He  even  slept  in  his  chair 
toward  the  last,  as  you  must  remember.  That  heart 
trouble  would  not  let  him  lie  down  in  peace — queer, 
for  a  man  of  his  physical  strength.  He  died  at  last 
in  his  chair,  in  that  library.  Plenty  of  time  for 
another  will ;  it  could  be  found  !  This  Mr.  Desmond 

341 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

seems  to  have  a  nose  for  game;  set  him  after  another 
will,  and  see  what  he  can  tree  this  time." 

Mrs.  Faurie  broke  in  to  prevent  the  old  man  from 
indulging  in  further  sarcasm  along  this  line.  "  And 
oh,  Uncle  Clarence,  such  a  dear  letter  was  with  the 
document !  I  want  Reginald  and  Horace  and  Ruf  us, 
each  one,  to  read  that  letter,  and  bless  God  for  a 
father  so  good  and  generous  and  considerate  for 
us  all." 

As  they  sat  and  listened  they  had  that  look  so 
pathetic  in  children  old  enough  to  appreciate  their 
situation  in  matters  of  moment,  yet  realizing  their 
helplessness  in  the  hands  of  others,  and  not  able  to 
compass  a  full  reliance  on  the  direction  of  the  course 
of  events. 

"  Do  you  understand,  Honoria,  that  you  will  have 
to  refund  to  the  executor,  the  estate,  the  expendi 
tures  of  all  these  years,  the  accumulated  amount  of 
the  income,  your  annuity,  —  the  money  that  you  have 
been  spending  so  royally  with  both  hands  for  nearly 
seven  years  ?  It  will  certainly  sweep  away  more  than 
half  your  present  provision,  possibly  the  whole,  into 
the  craws  of  those  vipers  that  you  have  warmed  on 
your  hearth."  The  old  man  was  piteous  in  his  age 
and  agitation,  as  he  stood,  lean,  gray,  wrinkled,  half 
bent  in  his  tremulous  emphasis,  his  arm  outstretched, 
the  fingers  quivering  as  he  shook  them  at  the  group 
of  aghast  boys.  "Do  you  understand  that,  woman?" 

"  Why,  what  else,  Uncle  Clarence  ?  Would  you 
have  me  rob  my  children?"  She  had  reached  out 
for  Chub  when  he  was  denominated  a  viper  with  a 

342 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

craw,  and  was  now  drawing  him  into  that  juxtaposi 
tion  so  unbecoming  to  his  appearance,  his  fledgeling 
blond  head  on  her  bosom,  his  hard,  round,  freckled 
red  cheek  against  the  soft,  exquisite  whiteness  of  her 
neck.  He  struggled  to  speak  through  her  tender 
kisses. 

"  You  will  oblige  me,  Uncle  Clarence,  by  not  call 
ing  my  mother  a  woman,"  he  said,  in  callow  affront. 

"  What  else  is  she  ?  —  and  a  most  ill-used,  un 
lucky?  and  poverty-stricken  woman." 

"  She  is  as  'spectable  as  any  man !  "  protested 
Chub ;  and  while  the  other  two  boys  burst  out  laugh 
ing  as  usual  at  Chubby  *s  queer  views,  they  were  all 
three  in  tears  presently,  horrified  that  their  mother 
should  be  impoverished  to  make  restitution  to  them, 
and  that  they  were  powerless  to  hinder  the  sacrifice. 

"  Oh,  terrible !  terrible  !  "  the  old  man  said  as  he 
strode  to  and  fro  before  the  fire,  literally  wringing  his 
hands.  "  It  is  the  duty  of  the  executor  to  exact  every 
mill,  and  he  will  do  it.  The  executor  has  no  option 
whatever  in  the  matter.  He  is  constrained  by  the 
terms  of  the  codicil." 

Then  he  fell  to  crying  again  and  again,  "  Oh, 
terrible !  terrible ! "  and  wringing  his  hands  as  he 
wavered  to  and  fro  with  his  uncertain,  senile  step. 

"  Uncle  Clarence,  why  will  you  not  set  an  example 
of  composure  and  courage  in  adversity  to  these  boys? 
The  event  must  have  fallen  out  this  way,  at  any 
rate." 

"  Why  ?  " — he  had  paused  abruptly.  "  Why,  Hon- 
oria,  why?  If  the  codicil  had  not  been  found,  you 
%  343 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

would  not  have  had  to  refund  under  any  circum 
stances." 

"  I  only  meant  that  this  codicil  must  have  come  to 
light  sooner  or  later,"  she  explained. 

But  he  went  on  unheeding :  "  Did  you  intend  to 
give  up  the  income  for  a  life-interest  in  the  third, 
under  the  provisions  of  the  old  will  ?  Are  you  going 
to  marry  this  man  Desmond?" 

Mrs.  Faurie  sat  still  and  amazed  for  a  moment. 
Then  her  buoyant  laughter  rang  joyously  through  the 
room.  "  Marry  ?  —  a  mere  boy,  like  Edward  ?  Uncle 
Clarence,  you  are  funny,  —  positively  funny  !  " 

"  He  is  no  boy,  —  he  is  as  old  as  the  almighty 
hills !  And  if  you  have  not  thought  of  such  a  possi 
bility,  he  has,  —  take  my  word  for  it,  he  has.  He  has 
a  keen  eye  for  the  main  chance.  He  found  the  codi 
cil,  and  now  you  have  to  give  up  the  income  whether 
or  no.  But  he  had  better  not  be  in  too  great  a  hurry 
for  the  fourth  of  the  estate.  Wait  till  you  make  good 
these  expenditures.  He  has  n't  seen  you  spend  money 
as  I  have  done.  Wait  till  you  make  good  your  refund 
ing  bond,  for  that  is  just  what  this  amounts  to." 

Desmond  felt  the  flush  rising  to  his  forehead.  His 
heart  was  beating  furiously.  In  his  agitation  he  had 
upset  the  bowl  of  violets  and  the  blossoms  were 
scattered  over  the  table,  while  the  water  in  which 
they  were  steeped  began  to  drip  slowly,  slowly  to  the 
floor.  He  did  not  lift  his  eyes,  not  even  when  Mrs. 
Faurie  spoke  in  apology. 

"  I  cannot  express  to  him  how  grateful  I  am  for 
his  forbearance  under  these  insults,"  she  said  gravely. 

344 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  And,  Uncle  Clarence,  you  would  never  subject  him 
to  them  and  so  tax  his  generosity  were  you  yourself 
to-day — so  scrupulous  as  you  are  in  every  relation  in 
life, —  so  —  " 

"  Too  scrupulous  !  Too  scrupulous  !  Scrupulous 
enough  to  be  such  a  stupendous  fool  as  not  to  tear 
a  bit  of  paper  when  I  had  my  chance,  and  save  you 
a  gigantic  fortune,  as  fortunes  go  in  this  country,  — 
ah,  —  ah, — when  I  had  my  chance!" 

He  tottered  out  of  the  room,  banging  the  door,  the 
three  boys  staring  in  dismay  after  the  lurching  figure 
with  the  feeble  impetuousness  of  gait,  and  listening 
to  the  mutter  of  his  impotent  wrath  as  he  went  stum 
bling  and  cursing  down  the  hall. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

JL/ESMOND  had  never  experienced  such  dejection  as 
now  overwhelmed  his  spirits.  He  could  not  rally  from 
it.  He  could  not  understand  it.  He  had  recovered 
from  the  strain  of  the  physical  fatigue,  even  from  the 
stress  of  excitement.  He  had  permitted  little  interrup 
tion  to  his  pedagogic  duties,  and  the  routine  of  the 
schoolroom  continued  in  force  as  regular  as  if  no 
river  pirates  had  ever  assailed  the  house,  and  died  in 
the  commission  of  the  intended  robbery ;  as  if  no 
coroner's  jury  had  ever  grimly  deliberated  on  the 
veranda ;  as  if  no  codicil  of  the  will  had  ever  been 
found  to  reverse  all  the  orderly  status  with  a  presage 
of  future  financial  chaos. 

"  We  will  take  care  of  to-day,"  Desmond  had  said 
to  his  restive,  unsettled,  agitated  pupils,  "  and  to 
morrow  will  take  care  of  itself." 

They  were  docile  under  his  admonition,  but  he 
could  not  so  easily  press  its  sage  philosophy  upon 
himself.  Now  and  again  he  struggled  with  this  gloom 
when  he  was  sufficiently  at  leisure  to  cope  with  it. 
He  had  been  fortunate  beyond  any  reasonable  ex 
pectation,  considering  his  status,  he  argued.  In  lieu 
of  the  position  of  a  tolerated  necessity  in  the  house, 
a  tutor  to  boys  remote  from  schools,  he  had  been 
treated  first  with  respect  and  courtesy,  then  as  a  valued 
guest,  made  as  one  of  the  family,  and  now  as  the 
predominant  controlling  element,  from  whose  decree 

346 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

there  was  no  appeal.  More  and  more  did  Mr.  Bain- 
bridge,  with  his  papers,  and  a  furtive  eye,  and  a  de 
precating  hand  laid  over  his  mouth,  as  if  resolved  to 
keep  his  conjectures  from  going  further  than  his 
mustache,  come  directly  to  Desmond,  to  take  his  ad 
vice,  as  he  said,  in  fact  to  secure  the  annulment  of  some 
impracticable  order,  or  to  obviate  unwise  dispositions 
of  Mrs.  Faurie's  in  the  readjustment  of  the  wrecked 
plantation  interests.  He  did  not  directly  bespeak  Des 
mond's  influence.  He  only  showed  the  papers  and  set 
forth  the  facts,  coughed  discreetly  behind  his  hand, 
and  if  securing  Desmond's  promise  to  place  the  mat 
ter  before  Mrs.  Faurie,  would  set  forth  confident 
and  alert,  acting  on  the  rescission  of  the  order  as  if  it 
were  received  ;  for  whatever  Mr.  Desmond  undertook 
at  Great  Oaks  Plantation  was  regarded  as  un  fait  ac 
compli.  The  attitude  of  the  servants  toward  him  for 
some  time  past  was  compounded  of  a  deep  respect 
and  some  real  liking,  influencing  swift  feet  and  dex 
terous  hands  and  willing  smiles  in  his  service.  "  He 
is  a  man,  shore!"  was  the  general  comment.  His 
pupils  first  obeyed,  then  esteemed,  and  now  adored 
him,  using  their  utmost  diligence  to  win  the  meed  of 
his  approval.  Even  they,  he  thought,  noted  his  gloom, 
which  he  could  not  disguise,  and  which  rested  upon 
his  aspect  as  definitely  as  a  pall.  He  lost  his  readiness 
to  sleep,  which,  since  he  had  become  content  in  a 
measure  with  his  lot,  he  had  recovered  —  in  his  youth 
ful  health  and  vitality.  Long,  long  after  the  house 
was  lapsed  in  slumber,  he  would  linger  in  a  reclin- 
ing-chair  at  his  window,  the  candle  burning  down 

347 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

to  the  socket,  his  fingers  in  the  pages  of  an  unread 
book,  looking  out  dully  at  the  lustrous  scene,  now 
grown  so  familiar,  of  the  expanse  of  gray,  shimmer 
ing  water  under  the  white  moon  and  the  faint  stars, 
while  all  the  room  about  him  dulled  to  indiscriminate 
gloom  and  the  hours  wore  on  and  on  toward  dawn. 

What  was  this  obsession?  he  sometimes  angrily 
asked  himself.  Why  should  he  wince  in  poignant  pain 
at  the  very  thought  of  the  tender  music  in  Honoria 
Faurie's  voice  as  she  sobbed  amidst  joy  and  laughed 
amidst  sorrow,  in  the  blended  ecstasy  and  woe  in  read 
ing  her  husband's  letter,  so  replete  with  his  love  and 
thought  for  her?  Was  he  jealous  of  the  dead  man  — 
dead  these  seven  long  years !  —  the  dead  man  he  had 
never  seen?  And  how  did  her  tears  and  smiles  concern 
him,  —  whom  she  deemed  but  a  boy,  —  at  whom  she 
looked  with  such  sweet,  maternal  eyes?  Sometimes  he 
felt  that  he  was  losing  his  reason.  Why  should  this 
evidence  of  her  love  for  the  dead  man  who  had  been 
her  husband  set  an  exquisite  pain  a-quiver  in  his  every 
fibre?  Had  he  thought  she  had  forgotten  —  that  were 
not  to  her  credit.  Did  he  fear  that  if  the  dead  still 
lived  so  in  her  heart  there  was  no  place  in  her  affec 
tions  for  him  ?  And  why  had  he  ever  hoped  this  ?  And 
when,  indeed,  had  he  first  thought  of  it  ?  There  had 
grown  up  in  his  mind  so  gradually  from  admiration 
of  her  beauty,  from  approval  of  her  standpoint,  from 
confidence  in  her  principles,  from  interest  in  the  dis 
closures  of  her  charming  mind,  an  absolute  adoration 
so  complete,  so  possessive,  that  he  was  hardly  aware 
of  it  until  it  absorbed  him  wholly.  He  had  no  more 

348 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

identity  of  his  own.  He  existed  only  in  relation  to  her. 
The  fact  became  apparent  to  him  as  he  reviewed  the 
last  few  months.  He  had  come  here  penniless,  as  a 
tutor  to  teach  her  sons,  mere  children,  to  do  desig 
nated  work;  he  had  stipulated  and  stood  stoutly  on 
these  limits,  defining  exactly  what  were  to  be  his 
duties,  that  he  might  not  be  called  upon  to  exceed 
them,  to  become  an  overworked,  underpaid  drudge, 
with  such  expenditure  of  vitality  that  he  might  be 
unable  to  rise  to  higher  things. 

He  recurred  no  more  to  these  limitations.  He  con 
trolled  the  boys  in  school  and  out,  laying  commands 
upon  them  with  paternal  freedom,  restricting  dan 
gerous  amusements,  interdicting  prejudicial  reading, 
requiring  salutary  exercise,  cutting  off  amusing  asso 
ciates  sometimes,  for  no  better  reason  than  that  their 
conversation  tended  to  impair  the  grammar  and  parlor 
manners  of  his  youthful  charges, — all  of  which  was 
out  of  his  contract  and  beyond  the  bailiwick  of  his 
authority. 

He  had  been  inducted  into  even  more  exacting 
occupations.  He  had  become  the  referee  in  all  matters 
of  dispute  about  the  place,  which  required  some  nicety 
of  discrimination;  he  was  often  put  into  a  position 
of  extreme  doubt  and  embarrassment  in  deciding  the 
small  property  interests  between  servants  or  the  plan 
tation  hands,  who  had  agreed  together  to  abide  by  his 
decision,  thus  exerting,  indeed,  the  functions  of  justice. 
Mrs.  Faurie  consulted  him  in  business  correspondence. 
He  had  been  led,  by  the  turn  of  events,  to  risk  his  life 
in  defense  of  the  mansion  and  to  hold  it  out  in  a  state 

349 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

of  siege.  He  had  kept  up  the  good  cheer  by  his  genial 
arts,  and  preserved  the  calmness  of  all  in  the  house 
that  dreadful  night  when,  but  for  his  stanch  compos 
ure  and  his  resources  of  management,  they  might 
have  fallen  victims  to  causeless  fright  and  ghastly 
horror  in  their  isolation,  and  become  the  wreck  of 
their  own  nerves  in  lieu  of  passing  the  ordeal  with 
no  result  but  the  confirmation  of  their  powers  and 
their  confidence  in  themselves.  It  was  he  who  had 
conferred  with  the  county  officials  by  letter  and  in 
person  when  they  came  to  the  house.  Mrs.  Faurie 
and  the  younger  boys  had  been  spared  the  ghastly 
details  of  the  inquest  through  his  representations  to 
the  coroner,  and  were  busied  in  a  rear  room  opening 
some  boxes  of  potted  plants  for  the  approaching  sum 
mer  decoration  of  the  veranda,  which  had  been  shipped 
by  the  packet  opportunely  passing  on  this  morning, 
and  which  he  contrived  should  be  brought  off  in  a 
skiff  simultaneously  to  the  house  ;  thus  they  were  not 
aware  of  the  event  in  progress  till  the  inquisition  was 
concluded.  His  own  testimony, -that  of  Reginald  and 
Mr.  Stanlett,  the  confessions  of  the  wounded  man, 
who  died  later  the  same  day,  the  corroborative  details 
of  the  servants  as  to  the  subsequent  events,  were 
deemed  ample  evidence,  and  the  verdict  of  the  jury 
was  in  accordance  with  the  facts. 

He  had  solved  the  mystery  of  the  spectral  mani 
festations  that  had  terrorized  the  house  for  years; 
he  had  secured  the  cache  from  its  possible  wresting 
away  by  vandal  hands;  he  was  her  confidant  and 
counselor  in  all  the  troublous  forecast  of  the  com- 

350 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

plications  to  ensue  upon  the  propounding  of  the 
codicil. 

Surely  these  were  the  services  of  no  hireling.  They 
were  the  cheerful  tribute  of  love  that  found  danger 
dear  for  her  behoof,  and  toil  light,  and  the  tangles 
of  perplexity  easy  of  unraveling  since  she  might  elude 
their  intricacies,  and  responsibility  a  broadening  of 
the  shoulders,  and  his  day  all  too  short  for  its  devo 
tion  to  her  interests. 

And  to  her  —  he  seemed  but  a  boy!  a  mere  spring- 
aid  out  of  college,  glad  to  teach  for  a  time, — to  repeat 
his  own  lessons  recently  conned  as  a  stepping-stone 
to  a  man's  devoir. 

And  yet — he  looked  at  the  long  lane  of  light,  the 
mystic  avenue  of  the  moon  on  the  water  in  the 
glade  between  the  lines  of  inundated  trees.  What 
alluring  dreams,  what  soft  deceits  were  coming  to  him 
along  that  roadway  of  shimmering  pearl, — coming  to 
him  from  the  moon,  the  home  of  fantasies,  to  which 
it  stretched  at  the  limits  of  the  perspective.  Did  she 
know  her  own  heart?  She  had  no  mind  but  his.  She 
adopted  his  views,  and  deferred  her  preferences,  and 
abated  her  prejudices.  He  had  no  need  to  care  for 
his  dignity ;  she  was  quicker  than  he  to  resent  aught 
that  seemed  to  touch  upon  it.  The  whole  house,  the 
whole  plantation,  was  relegated  to  his  control.  She 
seemed  in  a  hundred  ways  to  ask  his  permission,  — 
might  she  do  this?  might  the  boys  have  that?  She 
said  that  day,  —  that  dreadful  day,  —  when  he  and 
Reginald  held  her  in  their  arms  between  them,  that 
she  had  longed  for  him,  that  she  had  prayed  for 

asi 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

him.  How  strange  that  the  bell,  which  had  never 
rung  through  all  the  gloomy  day,  sounded  her  sig 
nal  for  him  so  far  away !  How  was  it  that  his  ears 
quickened  to  a  peal  that  had  never  vibrated,  —  that 
her  wishes,  her  prayers,  drew  him  from  far,  through 
sloughs  and  slashes,  through  bayous  and  lakes,  to  her 
side  at  her  utmost,  her  extremest  peril !  And  why  for 
him  had  she  prayed !  She  knew  that  the  time  set  for 
his  return  was  yet  two  days  distant.  The  manager  was 
overdue,  however,  and  momently  expected.  She  had 
not  contemplated  the  coming  of  Mr.  Bainbridge,  a 
stalwart  fellow  and  eminently  capable  of  coping  with 
these  familiar  conditions.  She  had  not  thought  that  a 
steamboat  might  chance  to  pass  and  discern  and  re 
spond  to  a  signal  of  distress.  She  had  longed  for  Des 
mond — for  Aim,  as  the  protecting  aegis  in  all  her 
frenzied  terror.  And  love  —  mysterious  love  —  had 
clamored  at  his  ears,  annulled  the  distance,  shaken  the 
fogs,  penetrated  the  rains,  defied,  set  at  naught  plain 
fact,  and  sounded  her  summons,  her  wish,  her  frantic 
hope,  till  he  needs  must  have  heed  and  respond.  It 
was  strange,  the  accord  between  them.  Surely,  surely 
she  did  not  translate  aright  the  tenor  of  her  own 
emotions. 

Suddenly  he  noticed  that  the  mystic  illuminated 
avenue  of  pearly,  shimmering  waters  between  the  giant 
oaks  was  dulling:  a  sort  of  gloating  glister  grew 
golden  upon  it;  vague  yearnings  were  in  the  air; 
unseen  beings  descended  continually,  their  presence 
demonstrated  only  by  the  sense  of  motion.  A  wind 
from  out  the  moon  ruffled  the  surface  into  thousands 

352 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

of  tiny  wavelets,  like  twinkling  feet  half  discerned. 
Fancies !  —  fancies  hastening  down,  lest  dawn  come 
too  soon,  cut  off  communication  with  the  ideal,  and 
leave  the  poor  world  the  prey,  the  possession  of  the 
prosaic.  For,  indeed,  the  light  was  fading  to  a  glim 
mering  steel,  and  now  to  an  unillumined  gray,  and 
as  he  rose  at  last  to  seek  an  hour's  repose  before  the 
household  should  rouse  for  the  day,  he  realized  that 
with  his  griefs  and  anxieties,  his  fears  and  his  waking 
dreams,  he  had  worn  the  night  away. 

He  did  not  mistake  the  character  of  his  emotions 
— they  were  strictly  paternal! — when  it  developed  in 
the  next  few  days  that  Reginald,  of  his  own  motion, 
had  written,  unknown  to  all  but  his  brothers,  a  letter 
to  the  executor  of  the  will,  Mr.  Hartagous,  a  lawyer  of 
Memphis.  The  others  had  signed  it,  and  thus  unified 
the  solemn  requirement  that  in  the  execution  of  the 
newly  discovered  codicil  he  should  make  no  demands 
upon  their  mother  for  the  return  to  the  estate  of  the 
funds  that  she  had  spent  under  the  provisions  of  the 
will  as  hitherto  in  force,  and  now  to  be  charged  against 
her  portion.  It  seemed  that  they  had  at  first  appealed 
to  their  guardian,  Mr.  Keith,  who  had  declined  the  dis 
cussion  by  stating  that  the  distribution  of  the  property 
was  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  executor.  Therefore 
they  called  the  attention  of  Mr.  Hartagous  to  the  fact 
that  they  were  the  owners  of  the  estate  in  his  hands, 
and  claimed  that  they  had  a  right  to  waive  this  demand 
upon  their  mother,  against  which  they  protested,  and 
to  impose  upon  him  their  command.  It  would  be  con 
trary  to  the  wishes  of  the  testator,  their  father,  they 

353 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

argued,  to  impoverish  for  a  legal  quibble  the  widow 
and  mother ;  and  even  if  they  should  restore  to  her — 
as  they  were  fully  resolved  to  do,  as  soon  as  the  eld 
est  came  of  age  —  anything  that  was  taken  from  her, 
that  was  a  distant  date,  and  she  would  spend  the  best 
years  of  her  life  in  poverty,  restricted  and  deprived  of 
the  comfort  and  luxury  to  which  she  was  accustomed. 
If  the  executor  should  persist  in  enforcing  the  codicil, 
the  letter  sternly  concluded,  it  would  be  their  resolve 
to  seek  to  visit  their  wrath  upon  him,  as  his  evil  deed 
merited. 

This  truculent  epistle  came  back  to  Great  Oaks  in 
closed  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Hartagous  to  Mrs.  Faurie. 
Their  sentiments  did  them  honor,  he  declared,  over 
looking  the  puerile  violence  of  their  menace,  and  this 
heralded  the  coming  of  Mr.  Hartagous  to  Great  Oaks 
for  a  conference  in  the  changed  state  of  things. 

The  Faurie  boys  were  somewhat  startled  to  see 
their  valiant  demonstration  in  the  hands  of  their 
mother,  who  kissed  and  hugged  and  wept  over  them 
till  they,  too,  shed  tears  as  they  clung  together. 

"  But  will  he,  mamma,  will  he  make  you  pay  us  all 
that  money?"  asked  Reginald,  leaning  over  the  back 
of  her  chair  and  gripping  hard  the  hand  that  she  held 
up  to  him. 

"  Oh,  what  a  pity  we  are  all  so  young,"  plained 
Horace,  — "  so  many  years  before  we  can  give  it 
back."  He  knelt  by  her  side  and  sobbed  against  her 
shoulder. 

Chubby  sunk  from  her  lap  to  the  floor  and  clung 
to  her,  hugging  her  knees.  "  Oh,  mamma,  will  you 

354 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

be  poor  till  I  am  a  man  ?  Oh,  I  will  work  for  you, 
mamma.  I  will  —  I  will  —  I  will  dig  in  the  garden." 

Reginald  and  Horace  had  no  laugh  to-day  for 
Chub's  unintentional  anticlimaxes,  and  as  Mrs.  Faurie 
sent  them  away,  that  she  might  consult  with  Desmond, 
they  carried  very  dreary  countenances,  and  she  still 
pressed  her  handkerchief  to  her  eyes. 

"  It  is  not  as  if  the  money  were  going  to  strangers," 
said  Desmond,  craftily.  "  It  will  only  advantage  those 
dear  fellows.  I  am  so  delighted  with  that  letter  of 
Reginald's." 

"  I  did  n't  realize  that  it  was  in  him  to  do  that," 
she  said,  suddenly  smiling  radiantly. 

"  I  did,"  said  Desmond,  promptly. 

"  I  believe  you  love  him  as  much  as  I  do,"  she 
cried  joyously. 

"  All  three,"  he  protested.  "  I  am  jealous  for  the 
others." 

"  Poor  little  Chubby,"  she  said,  lingering  lovingly 
on  the  words. 

"  Dear  old  Chubby  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  So  you  need 
not  mind  about  the  money.  It  is  for  them." 

"But  how  am  I  to  get  it,  Edward?"  She  drew 
her  level  brows  together  in  her  pretty  frown.  "  You 
have  no  idea  of  the  clip  I  went,  spending  money.  I 
can  see  now  the  awful  mistake  I  made;  but  it  seemed 
not  so  unreasonably  extravagant  then,  having  a  large 
income  at  my  disposal  for  my  lifetime,  and  my  chil 
dren  all  independently  and  handsomely  provided  for. 
And  now,  —  to  return  all  that  money !  And  that  man 
is  coming !  I  have  been  staying  here  to  economize, 

355 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

you  know,  to  get  the  old  place  to  take  care  of  me  till 
the  reservoir  fills  up  again." 

"  You  have  something  to  show  for  the  money,  I  sup 
pose.  Did  n't  those  wretches  mention  some  famous 
emeralds  ?  " 

"  Ye-es,  —  but  don't  you  think  it  infra  dig.  to  sell 
jewelry  ?  " 

"It  is  infra  dig.  not  to  have  money,"  he  said 
bitterly. 

Ah,  how  he  wished  that  he  were  adequately  equipped 
to  come  to  her  rescue;  to  let  her  relinquish  to  the 
Faurie  estate  all  that  the  name  had  brought  her ;  to 
offer  commensurate  resources. 

"  I  do  not  agree  with  you,"  she  said  firmly.  "  You 
have  no  money,  and  you  can  discount  the  world  for 
dignity." 

He  had  never  regarded  himself  in  this  light,  and 
he  flushed  with  pleasure.  As  her  eyes  rested  on  him 
she  suddenly  exclaimed :  "  Now  you  look  a  little  bit 
like  yourself.  This  torment  is  telling  more  on  you 
than  on  me.  I  assure  you  that  /  shall  not  let  myself 
go  off  in  my  looks  for  a  few  dollars,  dimes,  cents,  and 
mills." 

"  About  the  emeralds?" 

"  Beauty  when  unadorned  with  emeralds  is  as  green 
as  grass.  But  needs  must  —  let  them  go!  Let  them 
go!" 

"Do  you  love  them  so  much?"  he  said  wistfully. 

"  You  just  ought  to  see  them  on  me ! "  she  bridled. 

"  They  will  never  be  the  same  on  any  one  else," 
he  hazarded. 

366 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  And  that  is  one  comfort,"  she  acceded.  Her  pride 
in  the  preeminence  of  her  attractions  was  like  the 
innocent  vanity  of  a  child,  so  entirely  was  her  beauty 
acknowledged  and  a  matter  of  course. 

"  What  will  they  bring  at  a  forced  sale?*' 

"  Thirty  thousand  dollars,  they  cost." 

Desmond  jotted  down  the  sum  and  then  went  on. 
"About  the  yacht?" 

"  The  yacht?  Must  it  be  sold?  Why,  what  will  we 
do  in  the  Mediterranean  ?  " 

Obviously,  she  did  not  understand  the  situation.  It 
must  be  brought  home  to  her.  He  waved  his  hand 
to  the  waters  of  the  overflow  shimmering  just  outside 
the  veranda  balustrade.  A  dugout  was  rocking  at  a 
little  distance.  "  There  are  all  your  facilities  for  voy 
aging  for  some  time  to  come,  Mrs.  Faurie." 

She  burst  into  laughter  at  the  incongruity.  Then 
she  said,  "  I  cannot  realize  that  it  is  so  serious  as  all 
that.  My  yacht  is  a  beauty,  and  ought  to  bring  a 
pretty  penny." 

"  Perhaps  you  will  also  have  to  give  up  the  title  to 
Great  Oaks,  which  the  codicil  gives  you  in  fee,  to 
make  good  the  sums  which  you  have  received  from 
the  estate,"  he  ventured. 

Her  face  fell.  "  I  have  begun  to  love  this  life," 
she  declared  unexpectedly.  "  I  don't  want  to  change. 
I  don't  want  to  give  up  Great  Oaks.  I  have  forgotten 
the  world." 

A  thrill  stole  through  his  heart.  What  had  she 
said  ?  She  did  not  understand  her  own  heart ! 


CHAPTER  XVII 

JJ.LR.  HARTAGOUS  brought  with  him  a  metropolitan 
atmosphere,  the  manner  of  one  used  to  good  society, 
a  portly  stomach  accustomed  to  fine  feeding,  a  hand 
some  gray-streaked  beard  parted  in  the  middle,  and 
a  pair  of  searching,  quickly  glancing  dark  eyes.  He 
landed  at  Great  Oaks  shortly  before  dinner,  and  it 
was  at  table  that  he  made  Desmond's  acquaintance. 
It  was  not  he,  but  the  guardian  of  the  Faurie  boys 
who  had  sought  out  Desmond,  and  through  the 
offices  of  mutual  friends  secured  his  services  as  tutor, 
when  Mrs.  Faurie  had  placed  a  period  to  her  Euro 
pean  wanderings,  but  Mr.  Hartagous,  in  the  general 
family  interests,  had  been  apprised  of  all  the  details, 
and  in  meeting  Desmond  for  the  first  time,  inwardly 
congratulated  all  concerned  upon  the  phenomenal 
opportunity  of  finding  such  a  man  for  such  a  place. 
The  meal  was  somewhat  more  elaborate  than  usual, 
in  honor  of  the  guest.  Mrs.  Faurie,  in  one  of  her 
Parisian  gowns,  was  in  great  beauty.  So  marked, 
indeed,  was  the  effect,  that  it  seemed  not  inappropri 
ate  to  take  some  notice  of  what  was  so  obvious. 

"  Upon  my  word,  madam,"  Mr.  Hartagous  de 
clared,  having  progressed  with  great  prosperity  in 
feeding  through  the  menu  to  the  dessert,  "you  must 
surely  lose  the  tally  of  the  years  as  you  go,  else  you 
would  not  have  the  effrontery  to  look  younger  than 
when  I  first  met  you  as  a  bride." 

358 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"I  was  a  skinny  bride,"  she  smiled.  "The  years 
round  out  the  angles.  But  they  lay  on  fat  and  fads 
and  frtimpishness,  and  I  feel  really  like  an  old  coun 
try-woman." 

He  looked  at  her  beamingly,  his  face  flushed, 
partly  from  the  reflection  of  the  old-fashioned  red 
Bohemian  glass  finger-bowls,  and  partly  from  Mr. 
Faurie's  Madeira,  which  he  had  laid  down  a  good 
many  years  ago,  and  which  had  survived  him.  to 
delight  other  palates.  Mr.  Hartagous  was  pleased 
and  surprised  to  find  how  debonair  was  her  carriage 
under  the  changed  prospects.  He  had  not  thought 
she  could  sustain  her  equanimity  in  such  cruel  in 
certitudes,  nothing  positively  established,  but  great 
loss,  —  financial  ruin,  more  or  less  complete.  He  had 
feared  the  visit  as  a  dismal  experience ;  but  her  bril 
liant  aspect,  her  joyous  tones,  might  enliven  even  a 
board  at  which  sat  the  three  downcast  and  indig 
nant  Faurie  boys,  thoroughly  schooled  as  to  their 
civility,  but  showing  in  every  facial  line  how  they 
deprecated  and  resented  his  part  in  the  untoward 
falling  out  of  affairs.  The  two  younger  ones  asked 
to  be  excused  shortly  after  the  entrance  of  the 
dessert;  and  as  Mr.  Stanlett  had  not  appeared  at 
all  since  the  arrival  of  the  guest,  sending  in  by 
Bob  a  plea  of  indisposition,  Mrs.  Faurie  felt  some 
anxiety,  and  a  desire  to  go  and  inquire  into  his 
malady. 

"  I  leave  you  in  good  hands  with  Mr.  Desmond 
and  Reginald,"  she  said  to  Mr.  Hartagous,  as  she  rose 
from  the  table  with  a  rich  stir  of  silks  and  laces ;  "  I 

359 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

will  go  and  see  how  Uncle  Clarence  feels  now,  and 
meet  you  later  in  the  parlor." 

Reginald,  pale  and  disaffected,  and  all  unlike  him 
self,  lingered  listlessly  for  an  interval,  and  presently 
asked  Desmond  if  he  might  he  excused  also. 

"  What?  —  are  you  going  to  leave  us,  too?"  Mr. 
Hartagous  cried  out  genially,  in  a  determinedly  cheer 
ful  and  friendly  tone. 

"  I  am  nothing  of  a  boon  companion,"  said  Regi 
nald.  "  Mr.  Desmond  does  not  allow  me  to  drink  hut 
one  glass  of  light  wine,  —  I  shall  not  be  missed." 
And  with  a  poor  effort  at  a  friendly  smile,  obviously 
insincere,  he  stayed  for  no  more  parley. 

"  Ah,  you  seem  to  have  the  young  fellows  under 
good  control,  —  excellent  for  them.  A  short  tether,  — 
best  thing  in  the  world  for  colts  apt  to  feel  their  oats." 

Mr.  Hartagous  was  now  looking  about  the  room 
with  considerable  freedom  and  a  sort  of  disregard  of 

o 

the  presence  of  the  tutor,  taking  faute  de  mieux  the 
part  of  host.  "  Everything  is  just  as  it  used  to  he : 
old  sylvan  wall-paper,  in  design  of  tapestry  hangings, 
hunting-scene  ;  old  racing-cups  in  that  big  mahogany 
cabinet.  Faurie  used  to  have  a  string  of  good  horses. 
And  there  is  the  family  silver,  —  very  fine,  —  armo 
rial  bearings,  —  all  just  as  it  used  to  be.  Can't  think 
what  Mrs.  Faurie  did  with  her  money,  —  did  n't  put 
any  of  it  on  Great  Oaks,  at  all  events." 

Desmond  cloaked  his  failure  to  respond  in  specu 
lations  on  this  theme  by  passing  the  bottle,  and  Mr. 
Hartagous  promptly  refilled  his  glass. 

"  Severe  stroke  for  her,  —  the  finding  of  that  codi- 

360 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

cil.  Pity  it  did  n't  come  into  my  hands  earlier  !  There 
would  n't  be  the  devil  and  all  to  pay  as  there  is  now." 
He  lifted  his  glass  and  refreshed  himself  bounti 
fully.  Perhaps  he  was  used  to  livelier  company  at 
dinner,  for  he  presently  remarked  Desmond's  serious, 
not  to  say  dispirited  expression,  and,  possibly  because 
unable  to  appreciate  that  the  tutor's  anxiety  could  be 
disconnected  with  a  personal  application,  hastened  to 
stipulate  :  "  But  it  will  not  affect  yon  at  all.  Your  sal 
ary  comes  out  of  the  minors'  estates.  Mrs.  Faurie  is 
not  at  expenses,  except  such  as  may  be  voluntary  in 
their  education  and  maintenance." 

Mr.  Hartagous  was  well  aware  that  there  had  been 
some  difficulty  in  catching  an  appropriate  man  to  con 
sign  to  the  remote  depths  of  an  isolated  plantation  in 
the  Mississippi  bottom-lands.  As  Mrs.  Faurie  was  not 
willing  that  her  sons  should  be  separated  from  her  for 
their  schooling,  already  much  postponed,  Mr.  Keith, 
the  guardian,  must  needs  secure  a  college  graduate, 
of  irreproachable  character,  of  elegant  breeding,  and 
so  piteously  poor  as  to  be  willing,  for  a  small  salary, 
to  turn  his  back  on  the  world  at  the  outset  of  his 
career.  As  by  signal  good  fortune  the  guardian  had 
captured  this  rara  avis,  it  was  no  part  of  the  execu 
tor's  scheme  to  interfere  to  set  him  at  liberty  again, 
or  to  foster  restlessness  by  any  suspicion  that  his 
financial  interest  was  threatened  in  the  impending 
changes. 

"  But  Mrs.  Faurie  will  have  to  pay  the  piper  for 
the  dance  that  she  has  had,  —  a  long  and  a  lively  one 
from  all  that  I  hear, — and  I  should  think  that  it  would 

361 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

sweep  away  the  best  part  of  her  provision  under  this 
codicil.  I  do  hope  that  she  won't  make  a  fight  for  it, 
—  very  embarrassing  the  whole  affair  is  for  me,  es 
pecially  considering  the  attitude  the  boys  take  in  the 
matter.  Mr.  Keith  can  afford  to  pooh-pooh  it,  and 
say  they  will  think  differently  when  they  come  to 
their  majority.  He  is  not  called  upon  to  sustain  their 
resentment.  Yet  he  would  be  ready  at  the  drop  of  a 
hat  to  sue  me,  the  executor,  in  their  interest  in  this 
very  matter  that  the  little  fools  want  to  relinquish. 
As  far  as  their  interest  is  concerned,  however,  there 
will  be  no  litigation  in  carrying  out  the  provisions 
of  the  codicil.  But  I  confess  I  dread  the  idea  of  Mrs. 
Faurie's  futile  resistance." 

"  I  think  Mrs.  Faurie  has  no  intention  of  making 
a  contest/'  said  Desmond,  fearing  that  his  silence  on 
the  subject  might  be  misconstrued. 

The  lawyer  whirled  around  excitedly.  "  Turn  over 
Great  Oaks  Plantation  without  a  fight,  —  eh  ?  She 
will  have  to  lose  it  to  make  good." 

Mr.  Hartagous  had  a  brightening  aspect.  There 
had  been  already  sufficiently  discordant  elements  in 
the  situation  fomented  by  the  conflict  of  laws  in  the 
two  states  where  the  properties  lay,  a  pertinent  in 
stance  of  which  came  to  mind  in  the  incongruity  of 
an  indeterminate  limit  of  twenty  or  thirty  years  in 
Tennessee  for  the  revocation  of  probate  in  common 
form,  and  in  Mississippi  a  prescription,  with  the 
statutory  savings,  of  only  two  years,  which  had  long 
ago  elapsed.  Though  this  was  hardly  conclusive,  by 
reason  of  the  exception  of  the  statute,  in  favor  of  the 

362 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

disability  of  the  minors,  and  their  financial  interests 
in  the  revocation  of  the  Mississippi  probate,  it  might 
further  be  inoperative  to  render  Mrs.  Faurie  secure 
in  her  local  holdings,  if  her  interest  in  Great  Oaks, 
for  life  or  widowhood,  as  under  the  will,  could  be 
subjected  to  levy  as  for  debt  to  satisfy  the  require 
ments  of  the  codicil  in  Tennessee.  The  guardian  of 
the  minors  had  been  alert  to  perceive  another  phase 
of  the  situation  incident  to  the  discovery  of  the 
paper,  and  had  indeed  averred  to  Mr.  Hartagous  that, 
even  could  their  rights  of  prescription  be  defeated, 
he  felt  that  the  long  and  incomprehensible  delay 
to  produce  the  codicil  savored  of  concealment,  and 
in  the  event  of  proof  of  this,  the  Mississippi  stat 
ute  allowed  two  years  further  for  the  revocation  pro 
tanto  of  the  probate.  The  lapse  of  time  had  wrought 
such  ruin  to  Mrs.  Faurie' s  interests  that,  even  apart 
from  her  high  character,  which  precluded  such  a  sus 
picion,  she  could  never  be  supposed  to  have  been  a 
party  to  such  a  disastrous  scheme  of  concealment ;  and 
the  diligence  of  the  search  of  Mr.  Hartagous  among 
the  valuable  papers  of  the  decedent  was  protected  by 
a  letter  from  Mr.  Faurie  himself,  dated  a  few  days 
before  his  death,  stating  that  all  important  papers 
had  been  transferred  to  his  keeping,  as  the  executor, 
in  view  of  the  settlement  of  the  estate.  Mr.  Hartagous 
had  not  found  it  an  easy  task,  with  its  diversified 
interests,  its  complicated  litigation,  its  many  details, 
and  he  welcomed  the  thought  that  perhaps  after  all 
Mrs.  Faurie  might  yield  at  once  to  the  inevitable,  and 
the  settlement  of  the  estate  might  yet  go  cannily  on, 

363 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

including  the  provisions  of  the  codicil,  without  rais 
ing  the  issue  of  devisavit  vel  non  and  repairing  to 
the  circuit  court  for  probate  in  solemn  form. 

Desmond  was  a  trifle  embarrassed.  "  It  may  not 
be  necessary  to  relinquish  Great  Oaks,"  he  said  un 
easily.  "  Mrs.  Faurie  has  other  convertible  assets." 

The  lawyer  bent  his  brows  and  cast  a  keen  glance 
at  him.  There  was  a  significant  silence.  "  So  you  are 
in  her  confidence,  are  you  ?  " 

There  was  so  much  receptivity  in  his  aspect  as  he 
waited  for  the  reply,  he  was  so  evidently  ready  to  dis 
criminate  and  utilize  all  manner  of  subtle  and  diffu 
sive  impressions  and  information,  that  Desmond  grew 
unwontedly  wary.  "  Not  to  the  extent  of  being  able 
to  speak  for  her,"  he  stipulated.  "  But  Mrs.  Faurie  is 
very  candid,  as  you  know,  and  I  am  in  a  position  to 
hear  much  of  the  family  conversation." 

He  came  to  a  dead  halt.  But  Mr.  Hartagous  had 
not  wrestled  with  reluctant  witnesses  for  a  matter 
of  thirty  years  to  be  baffled  at  this  late  day  by  an 
after-dinner  interlocutor  with  a  bottle  of  choice  wine 
between  them.  He  gave  it  a  push  as  he  said  :  "  And  I 
also  stand  in  a  quasi-confidential  relation  to  her,  having 
long  been  the  friend  of  her  husband  and  herself,  as 
well  as  the  executor  of  his  will.  It  would  gratify  me 
extremely  to  be  able  to  adjust  this  difficult  matter  with 
out  contention  and  the  rupture  of  long-established 
amicable  sentiments."  He  gazed  keenly  at  the  hand 
some  face  of  the  tutor,  intellectual  and  powerful  be 
yond  his  years  and  experience,  the  expression  of  men 
tal  value  enhancing  the  effect  of  symmetry  of  feature. 

364 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

He  was  about  to  suggest  that  it  might  be  beneficial  to 
Mrs.  Faurie's  interests  to  canvass  the  matter  between 
them,  and  from  its  incidents  strike  out  some  middle 
course  of  advantage  to  all  parties  concerned.  But  there 
was  something  in  Desmond's  deep,  steadfast  eyes  that 
admonished  him  that  this  confidence  could  come  about 
only  from  inadvertence.  Desmond  would  not  of  set 
purpose  disclose  Mrs.  Faurie's  intentions.  The  exec 
utor  began  to  realize  that  if  he  wanted  such  facts 
as  the  tutor  knew,  he  must  surprise  them. 

"  Mrs.  Faurie  would  not  want  Great  Oaks  at  any 
rate,"  he  hazarded.  "  I  wonder  at  Faurie  for  that  dis 
position  of  the  plantation,  —  cumbrous  property." 

"  It  is  a  fine  place,"  said  Desmond,  non-commit- 
tally. 

"  Looks  mighty  pretty  now,  —  a  full  fathom  deep 
in  water  in  the  shallowest  spot,"  sneered  the  lawyer. 

"  The  land  is  of  fine  quality,  —  raises  good  crops, 
I  am  told,"  Desmond  commented. 

"  Don't  need  fertile  land  to  raise  crawfish." 

"  Why,  even  the  floods  that  drowned  the  world  dried 
off  after  a  while  ;  and  Great  Oaks  is  relying  on  prece 
dent  and  Providence,  and  expects  to  raise  cotton  here 
again  some  day."  Desmond's  tone  was  crisp.  He  had 
no  necessity  that  he  recognized  to  submit  to  the  acer 
bities  of  the  executor.  It  was  strain  enough  on  his 
patience  to  make  allowances  for  the  infirmities  and 
age  of  Mr.  Stanlett. 

His  tone,  the  vigor  of  his  argument,  shook  the  self- 
restraint  of  Mr.  Hartagous.  The  lawyer's  spirit  of  con 
tention  responded.  He  wagged  his  head  with  an  aspect 

365 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

of  melancholy,  not  unrelated  to  his  sentiment,  when  he 
said :  "  The  overflow  will  cry  down  the  price.  I  have 
a  letter  in  my  pocket  now  from  a  would-be  purchaser, 
a  Mr.  Loring,  formerly  a  resident  of  this  county.  His 
offer  is  low,  but  as  much  as  the  place  can  command  for 
the  next  ten  years  to  come."  He  shook  his  head  and 
filled  his  glass  anew. 

Desmond  quickly  reviewed  the  events  of  the  past 
weeks.  Doubtless  the  news  of  the  discovery  of  the 
codicil  had  been  widely  bruited  abroad,  and  thus  Mr. 
Loring,  aware  of  the  exigencies  of  the  prospective  re 
funding  and  of  Mrs.  Faurie's  depleted  resources,  had 
taken  the  field  with  the  first  offer.  He  had  astutely 
approached  the  executor  rather  than  its  present 
owner,  whose  disposition  to  sell  might  be  in  inverse 
proportion  to  the  necessity ;  and  as  the  exacting  cred 
itor,  Mr.  Hartagous,  knowing  that  such  an  opportu 
nity  of  sale  would  not  be  easily  duplicated,  might 
press  an  acceptance  as  a  ready  solution  of  the  emer 
gency,  which  promised  him  a  world  of  anxiety  and 
perplexity.  Little  effort  indeed  might  be  requisite  to 
urge,  flatter,  overpersuade  a  woman  unaccustomed  to 
the  turmoils  of  hopeless  debt  and  annoyed  by  business 
complications. 

But  poor  Honoria  Faurie !  To  have  unwittingly  dis 
pensed  her  whole  fortune  as  her  income,  her  annuity. 
To  be  called  upon  now  to  surrender  the  roof  above  her 
head  as  penance  of  those  years  of  plenty  that  had  held 
out  to  her  the  deceit  of  perpetuity.  Desmond  trembled 
for  her  future,  for  her  sons  were  mere  children  and 
helpless.  He  feared  lest  she  be  harassed  into  precipi- 

366 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

tancy  and  clutch  at  any  prospect  of  speedy  deliverance 
from  these  troublous  toils,  willing  to  concede  anything, 
to  relinquish  everything,  to  have  peace,  —  when,  alas  ! 
there  would  be  no  more  peace.  He  realized  the  im 
mense  capacity  to  clinch  tight,  to  hold  hard,  of  the 
genus  of  which  Mr.  Hartagous  was  a  type,  —  cool,  col 
lected,  with  no  personal  interest  involved  that  might 
affect  his  judgment,  ready  to  stand  on  a  quibble,  to 
fight  for  the  minutest  fraction,  to  prolong  the  con 
tention  to  the  uttermost,  to  the  extremest  exhaustion 
of  his  adversary's  slender  resources  of  resistance.  And 
she  had  not  a  soul  to  whom  she  might  appeal,  save 
indeed  some  lawyer,  earning  his  fee,  and  appreciative 
only  of  the  surface  conditions  of  her  case,  —  but  no 
one  who  cared  for  her,  who  would  think  for  her.  The 
realization  roused  Desmond  in  her  behalf. 

"  You  had  best  wait  till  morning  to  place  the  offer 
before  her,"  Desmond  said,  determined  to  be  the  first 
to  acquaint  her  with  the  facts,  determined  that  she 
should  not  meet  her  adversary  in  his  guise  of  friend 
without  consideration  of  the  double  identity  in  which 
he  came.  "  There  is  always  so  much  stir  in  the  parlor 
after  dinner, —  the  children  and  their  dogs  make  a 
deal  of  noise.  Mrs.  Faurie  always  gives  up  her  even 
ings  to  the  entertainment  of  her  sons." 

He  had  no  mind  to  offer  the  library,  which  indeed 
had  been  assigned  to  his  exclusive  use,  and  he  hoped 
that  Mr.  Hartagous  did  not  remember  its  facilities 
for  quiet  consultation,  so  long  had  it  been  dismantled. 

Mr.  Hartagous  was  one  of  the  most  acute  of  men, 
and  his  facial  traits  were  well  under  control.  Few 

367 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

people  could  have  interpreted  the  sudden  cynical 
uplifting  of  his  bushy  eyebrows  as  he  said  casually, 
"  Ah,  well,  —  plenty  of  time,  —  plenty  of  time." 

But  Desmond's  perceptions  were  quickened  in  her 
interests  and  he  knew  that  the  hour  was  come,  that 
before  they  separated  for  the  night,  Mrs.  Faurie 
would  be  acquainted  with  the  executor's  version  of 
the  facts, —  that  they  were  the  most  lucky  of  mortals ! 
for  property  was  slow  of  sale,  plantations  a  drug  upon 
the  market,  the  labor  questions  impossible  of  solu 
tion  ;  clouds,  darkness,  environed  them  on  every  side, 
and  they  knew  not  whither  to  grope,  —  and  here  sud 
denly  a  flood  of  financial  sunlight  was  opening  upon 
them  in  the  midst  of  their  night  of  despondency. 
Only  the  touch  of  her  pen,  —  the  title  of  Great  Oaks, 
which  she  had  always  loathed,  would  be  transferred. 
The  millionaire's  cash  and  notes  would  make  good 
her  indebtedness  to  the  estate  to  that  extent,  at  least; 
the  rest  could  be  "  carried  "  —  fatal  word  !  —  arranged 
for  a  time  with  liens  on  smaller  properties.  Plausible 
representation  !  —  the  sense  of  a  load  of  debt  lifted, 
the  turbulent  apprehension  of  contention  averted. 
She  might  adopt  the  executor's  conclusions,  and  in 
deed  from  his  point  of  view  there  was  naught  else 
practicable.  She  had  known  him  long,  liked  him  well, 
and  relied  on  his  friendship.  But  his  duty  in  the 
premises  was  to  the  estate,  to  make  the  most  and  the 
best  of  the  testator's  dispositions  as  far  as  it  was 
concerned.  As  to  the  widow,  the  wreck  was  her  own 
work,  unconscious  though  she  had  been,  mistaken ; 
he  had  no  responsibility  so  far  as  she  was  interested 

368 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

save  to  enforce  the  provisions  of  the  codicil,  and  to 
exact  the  terms  of  the  refunding  clause.  She  might 
be  prevailed  upon,  in  the  first  flush  of  relief  that  any 
solution  of  the  problem  was  at  hand,  to  sign  at  once, 
to-night,  some  agreement  of  sale ;  she  might  not  com 
mit  herself  beyond  the  possibility  of  withdrawal,  but 
so  far  embrace  the  proposition  as  to  be  unwilling  to 
recede  from  it.  And  indeed  she  might  be  persuaded 
into  a  coincidence  of  opinion.  His  representations 
might  fix  her  resolution.  Later,  Desmond's  remon 
strances  might  not  avail.  He  was  young,  as  she 
knew,  —  she  had  called  him  repeatedly  a  mere  boy. 
He  could  not  be  sure  that  she  seriously  valued  his 
business  instincts,  when  he  had  no  business  experi 
ence.  He  desired  only  to  put  her  on  her  guard,  to 
excite  her  apprehension,  to  counsel  reserve,  above  all 
delay.  He  could  imagine  the  sequence,  and  it  appalled 
him.  The  wishes  of  Mrs.  Faurie,  reduced  to  poverty, 
to  insignificance,  would  no  longer  have  such  weight 
as  when  issued  from  her  princess-like  affluence  and 
preeminence,  and  the  wishes  of  the  boys  were  as 
empty  of  influence  as  the  disability  of  their  minority 
would  compel.  He  wondered  dolorously  as  to  her 
impending  fate.  Perhaps  there  might  be  accorded  to 
her,  from  among  the  chips  and  blocks  of  the  Faurie 
estate,  saved  from  the  cormorant  clutch  of  the  refund 
ing,  some  cottage  on  a  side  street  in  the  outskirts  of 
Yieksburg  or  Natchez,  some  little  farm  of  a  few  acres 
regularly  overflowed,  and  raising  indeed  more  crawfish 
than  cotton. 

It  seemed  as  if  Desmond  had  intentionally  misled 

369 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Mr.  Hartagous  when  he  opened  the  parlor  door  and 
they  entered  a  room  of  absolute  silence  and  stillness. 
Mrs.  Faurie,  in  a  gown  of  sage  green  silk  brocaded 
in  lighter  tones,  the  lace  at  her  throat  coruscating 
with  the  delicate  white  fires  of  a  diamond  "  sunburst/' 
leaned  back  in  a  large  chair,  her  eyes  on  the  hearth, 
evidently  moody  from  argument  and  remonstrance 
with  her  sons.  Their  faces,  as  they  sat  in  a  row  on 
a  sofa,  were  downcast,  full  of  distress,  and  marked 
with  the  distorting  trace  of  nervous  anxiety,  which 
they  could  feel  as  if  they  were  men,  but  unlike 
men  could  not  hope  to  do  aught  to  abate ;  —  only 
Chub  gazed  up  at  Mr.  Hartagous  with  childish,  low 
ering,  resentful  eyes  and  a  half-suppressed  tendency 
to  pout.  Mr.  Stanlett,  pallid,  seeming  more  lean  than 
usual,  shrunken,  and  very  perceptibly  aged  by  the 
shock  of  the  excitements  of  finding  the  codicil,  lay 
in  a  reclining-chair  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  fire. 
He  greeted  Mr.  Hartagous  with  courtesy  indeed,  but 
with  noticeably  few  words,  and  protesting  that  his 
indisposition  had  passed,  welcomed  him  to  Great 
Oaks  mansion.  Desmond  felt  the  future  in  the  in 
stant.  It  would  require  but  little  exertion  of  Mr. 
Hartagous's  tact  to  inaugurate  one  of  the  old-time 
reminiscences,  which  seemed  the  delight  and  the  re 
source  of  Mr.  Stanlett's  failing  life.  His  eyes  would 
flash,  his  thin  cheek  flush,  the  boys  would  listen  in 
spellbound  silence,  and  Mr.  Hartagous,  already  seated 
beside  her,  would  secure  an  uninterrupted  tete-a-tete 
with  Mrs.  Faurie ;  for  the  tutor,  in  his  subsidiary 
position  and  obligatory  show  of  respect,  must  needs 

370 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

accord  Mr.  Stanlett's  narration  his  attention  also. 
But  even  should  Desmond  so  far  forget  himself  as  to 
interpose  in  the  discussion  of  business  in  which  he 
had  no  concern,  Mr.  Hartagous  had  arguments  which 
on  first  view  would  easily  discomfit  his  crude  and 
inexperienced  counsels.  Nevertheless,  Desmond  re 
solved  anew  that  she  should  not  hear  of  the  offer  of 
Mr.  Loring  for  Great  Oaks  first  from  the  executor. 
He  cast  about  him  in  desperation.  Mr.  Stanlett  was  al 
ready  replying  with  some  spirit  as  to  the  early  history 
of  certain  localities  that  Mr.  Hartagous  had  noticed 
from  the  guards  of  the  steamboat  in  coming  down 
the  Mississippi  Eiver  from  Memphis,  which  itself 
was  built  on  one  of  the  famous  Chickasaw  Bluffs. 
Mr.  Stanlett's  memory  reached  back  to  the  days  be 
fore  the  Chickasaws  and  Choctaws  had  generally  van 
ished  westward,  and  he  had  then  gleaned  from  the 
chiefs  some  traditions  at  first  hand  which  made  him 
an  authority  on  moot  points  of  early  history,  and  he 
piqued  himself  on  his  accuracy.  It  was  easy  indeed  to 
engage  him  in  a  discussion  as  to  the  site  of  the  old 
Chickasaw  towns,  —  seven  of  them  together  in  a 
row,  the  last  called  Ash-wick-boo-ma  (Red  Grass),  — 
where  they  defeated  D'Artaguette  and  later  Bien- 
ville,  and  the  details  of  the  battle  of  Ackia  and  its 
famous  last  charge.  The  young  Fauries'  faces  had 
brightened.  Suddenly  Reginald  asked  a  breathless 
question  as  to  the  boy-commander,  the  Canadian, 
Voisin,  who  at  sixteen  years  of  age  conducted  the 
safe  and  skilled  retreat  of  the  troops  through  many 
miles  of  wilderness  from  the  field  of  the  battle  which 

371 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

his  superior  officer,  the  unfortunate  D' Artaguette,  had 
lost. 

Mr.  Stanlett  needed  no  more  prompting,  nor,  Des 
mond  feared,  would  he  heed  interruption.  Mr.  Harta- 
gous  presently  leaned  forward  with  his  elbow  on  the 
table  at  Mrs.  Faurie's  right  hand,  and  had  begun  to 
speak  to  her  in  a  low  voice,  when  Desmond  asked 
Mr.  Stanlett  if  he  knew  the  ancient  French  bugle- 
calls,  and  said  that  one  claimed  a  Merovingian  origin. 
He  declared  that  he  would  like  to  believe  that  the 
same  strain  which  had  rung  from  the  famous  "  Oli- 
vant,"  the  horn  of  the  Paladin  at  Roneesvalles,  had 
served  to  rally  D'Artaguette's  motley  levies  of  Indians, 
and  coureurs  des  bois,  and  French  soldats  along  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi,  and  would  forever  continue 
to  sound  down  the  centuries,  to  find  echoes  in  the 
heart  of  the  enthusiast  and  the  metre  of  the  poet. 

"  Let  me  see  if  you  find  the  old  calls  familiar," 
Desmond  exclaimed,  lifting  the  lid  of  the  piano  and 
tangling  it  in  his  haste  with  its  crimson  embroidered 
cloth  cover.  It  was  an  old  piano,  with  the  felt  of  its 
hammers  worn  hard  and  thin.  So  much  the  better,  since 
he  desired  to  drown  out  the  voice  of  Mr.  Hartagous. 
The  martial  strain,  instinct  with  its  imperative  man 
date,  throbbed  through  the  room  and  then  died  away, 
and  as  they  listened  a  note  was  repeated,  and  still  a 
vibration,  as  from  some  vague  distance. 

"  An  echo  !  —  an  echo ! "  cried  Chub,  vociferously. 
"  Oh,  mamma,  listen  to  our  Mr.  Desmond  !  He  can 
do  anything, — how  he  can  play  !" 

"Now,  what  do  you  suppose  is  the  date  of  that 

372 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

call  ?  "  Mr.  Stanlett' s  cheek  had  flushed ;  his  interest 
was  roused. 

"  The  introduction  of  this  one  can  be  definitely 
fixed,"  and  once  more  a  spirited  lilting  strain  rang 
through  the  room.  Then  Desmond  turned  on  the 
piano  stool.  "  Where,  Reginald,  did  you  put  that  old 
book  on  the  Ancient  Military  Orders  of  France?  It 
gives  some  old  calls.  I  found  that  rummaging  about 
in  the  library." 

"  You  find  too  much,  sir,  rummaging  about ! "  said 
Mr.  Stanlett,  with  a  bent  brow  and  a  fiery  eye. 
"You  should  curb  your  talents  for  rummaging 
about." 

But  Desmond  had  thrust  an  old  folio  into  his  hand, 
with  a  recommendation  to  examine  the  very  quaint 
and  antique  illustrations  of  arms  and  accoutrements 
and  military  costume  with  which  it  was  embellished. 
There  were  some  extra  inserts  of  military  portraits, 
steel  engravings,  and  Mr.  Stanlett  was  turning  the 
leaves,  his  thin  mouth  drawn  in  very  small,  his  eye 
alight  with  a  fervor  of  interest,  his  rebuke  and  its 
cause  forgotten  in  an  instant. 

Not  by  Mr.  Hartagous.  He  made  the  serious  mis 
take  of  casting  a  merry,  significant  glance  at  the  tutor, 
expecting  it  to  be  returned  in  like  genial  wise.  He 
desired  to  establish  confidential  relations  with  Des 
mond.  He  might  find  so  accomplished,  so  versatile, 
so  lightning-quick  a  fellow  of  special  use  here,  where 
diplomatic  management  might  be  necessary  to  smooth 
the  way  for  readjustments.  But  Desmond  did  not 
respond,  and  Mr.  Hartagous  felt  the  rising  surge  of 

373 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

anger.  He  realized  that  the  young  man  was  too  ob 
servant  to  have  lost  the  demonstration ;  he  was  far 
too  keen  to  fail  to  appreciate  its  relish  and  its  demand 
for  the  recognition  of  Mr.  Stanlett's  pitiably  funny 
allusion  to  the  tutor's  instrumentality  in  discovering 
the  codicil  of  the  last  will  and  testament  of  the  late 
Mr.  Faurie.  Desmond's  studied  insensibility  was  a 
covert  rebuke,  and  the  spirit  of  Mr.  Hartagous  re 
volted  against  this  schooling,  which  he  felt  might 
befit  some  crude  hobbledehoy.  He  would  have  liked 
to  remind  the  tutor  that  he  was  the  guardian's  em 
ployee  and  not  Mrs.  Faurie's,  and  that  the  peda 
gogic  office  was  held  at  his  pleasure ;  to  recall  the 
fact  that  despite  the  young  man's  learning  and  many 
accomplishments,  it  had  been  already  demonstrated 
to  him  that  one  must  have  foothold,  a  starting-point, 
to  make  these  felt  by  the  world.  A  flood,  quotha !  — 
a  sorry  time  a  dove  or  any  other  fowl  would  have  to 
find  a  perch,  set  adrift  from  this  ark  of  Great  Oaks 
mansion. 

Mrs.  Faurie  intercepted  and  interpreted  the  glance, 
and  for  a  time  she  held  her  eyes  down  to  the  fan  in 
her  hand  with  which  she  seemed  gracefully  to  toy,  but 
Desmond  had  seen  that  they  were  full  of  tears.  She 
felt  that  these  two  men,  in  the  pride  of  their  powers, 
in  the  flush  of  their  prime,  in  the  vigor  of  their 
health  and  strength,  were  ridiculing  poor,  dear  Uncle 
Clarence  for  his  distress  in  her  loss,  for  his  feeble, 
inadequate,  unreasoning  indignation  at  the  officious 
intermeddling,  as  he  thought  it,  which  had  brought 
the  catastrophe  about. 

374 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

But  Desmond  had  begun  to  sing,  —  she  had  not 
known  that  he  could  sing,  —  and  the  room  was  filled 
with  surging  waves  of  melody.  A  powerful  baritone 
voice  he  had,  of  no  great  cultivation,  enough  only  to 
temper  the  crudities  of  his  rendering,  but  of  correct 
intonation,  and  it  was  singularly,  lusciously  sweet. 
They  were  military  songs  that  he  sang,  with  the  tri 
umph  of  the  trumpets,  the  gay  clash  of  the  cannikin, 
the  impetuous  speed  of  the  high-couraged  war-horse, 
all  infused  through  them.  Now  they  were  French 
and  again  German,  and  some  were  in  quaint  old 
English  phrase  of  mediaeval  suggestion. 

"  Never,  never  let  me  hear  you  speak  another 
word,"  cried  Mr.  Stanlett,  in  senile  delight.  "  You 
should  go  singing  through  the  world  like  the  mock 
ingbirds  in  spring." 

He  looked  across  the  room,  smiling  and  nodding, 
expectant  of  sympathetic  response  from  Mr.  Harta- 
gous,  who  was  as  weary  of  it  all  as  if  the  evening 
were  spent  in  that  other  ark  to  which  Great  Oaks 
mansion  was  so  often  likened.  Under  these  circum 
stances  he  could  have  as  easily  communicated  with 
the  ladies  of  the  patriarchal  Noah  as  with  Mrs.  Fau- 
rie,  - — the  terrible  Chub  chasing  continually  from  the 
side  of  the  piano  and  across  the  room  to  fling  himself 
into  his  mother's  arms  crying,  "Ain't  it  beautiful, 
mamma?  Ain't  it  beautiful?  The  grand  opera  in 
Paree  don't  touch  Mr.  Desmond  nowhere  !  " 

So  weary,  indeed,  did  Mr.  Hartagous  presently 
look  that  the  dispersal  of  the  party  for  the  night  was 
obviously  in  order,  although  much  earlier  than  usual. 

375 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  Can  you  find  your  way  back  to  your  room,  do 
you  think?"  Mrs.  Faurie  said  to  the  guest,  as  the 
group  stood  at  a  side  table  in  the  hall  and  she  lighted 
their  bedroom  candles  seriatim. 

The  house  was  so  large  and  so  rambling  in  its  plan 
that  he  was  not  sure  that  he  remembered  his  way 
about  it,  he  replied.  He  had  expected,  and  indeed  so 
had  she,  that  Desmond  would  come  forward  with  his 
readiness  for  any  emergency  and  officiate  as  guide. 
But  Desmond,  stolidly  unmindful,  snuffed  out  and 
then  relighted  his  own  candle,  its  tiny  white  blaze 
illumining  his  flushed,  absorbed  face,  and  after  a 
moment's  hesitation  Reginald  offered  to  accompany 
the  guest  to  his  room.  Thus  Mr.  Hartagous  departed 
to  his  night's  rest,  a  little  dissatisfied  with  the  situa 
tion,  and  not  a  little  doubtful  of  the  tutor.  He  re 
sented  this  incertitude,  because  it  was  partly  his  in 
fluence  that  had  placed  Desmond  here.  "And  mighty 
glad  he  was  to  come,  too,"  he  reflected.  He  rather 
wondered  that  Desmond  should  not  discern  his  own 
interests  more  clearly  than  to  seem  to  adhere  to  the 
losing  side,  for  Mrs.  Faurie's  power,  always  limited, 
was  now  definitely  a  thing  of  the  past.  "  For  she  is 
not  worth  one  red  cent,  as  matters  stand!"  Mr. 
Keith,  he  was  aware,  had  begun  to  doubt  whether 
the  redundant  maternal  coddling  was  the  best  thing 
for  the  boys,  and  had  only  agreed  to  their  persistent 
retention  under  her  wing  in  deference  to  her  wish; 
but  Hartagous  was  sure,  did  he  so  desire,  that  he  could 
easily  induce  him  to  insist  as  their  guardian  upon 
packing  them  off  summarily  to  boarding-school,  where 

376 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

they  might  encounter  some  of  the  roughening  and 
hardening  phases  of  boy  life.  "  Make  men  of  them." 
Although  balked  of  the  conversation  which  he  had 
expected  to  have  with  Desmond  when  he  should  have 
reached  the  room  assigned  him,  and  feeling  distinctly 
man-handled,  he  determined  to  have  a  definite  under 
standing  with  the  tutor  on  the  morrow,  and  apprise 
him  that  he  was  expected  to  act  in  the  interest  of  his 
employer,  the  guardian,  which  was  identical  with  that 
of  the  executor,  in  smoothing  the  way  to  a  pacific  ad 
justment  of  the  troublous  toils  in  which  the  discovery 
of  the  codicil  had  entangled  the  household  of  Great 
Oaks,  —  and  this  signified,  in  the  interpretation  of 
Mr.  Hartagous,  an  unconditional  surrender  of  all  the 
opposing  interests. 

"  It  is  not  late,  though  you  seem  tired,  —  and  I 
must  speak  to  you  to-night,"  Desmond  said  to  Mrs. 
Faurie,  when  the  young  host  and  the  guest  had  van 
ished  down  the  cross-hall. 

She  had  her  lighted  candle  in  her  hand,  and  the 
flame  threw  into  high  relief  against  the  dull  shadows 
her  exquisite  face,  with  the  subdued  green  of  her 
gown,  the  shimmer  of  the  lace  above  her  bosom,  the 
diamond  "  sunburst "  at  her  throat.  "  Won't  to-mor 
row  answer?"  she  replied,  stifling  a  yawn. 

"  No  !  Oh,  no,  indeed !  Believe  me,  I  would  not 
insist,  but  the  matter  is  urgent." 

"  Heavens !  More  business ! "  she  remonstrated.  "  I 
imagined  that  with  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Hartagous  all 
the  bother  would  be  over.  He  can  think  for  us  all. 
What  else  is  a  lawyer  created  for  ?  " 

377 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

66  Your  lawyer,  —  yes  !  But  this  man  is  not  acting 
in  your  interest.  He  is  acting  for  the  estate." 

"  It  is  the  same  thing,  —  my  sons'  interest.  He  will 
settle  everything." 

Desmond  could  scarcely  have  feared  a  more  inert 
attitude  of  submission  than  this.  How  could  the 
woman  be  so  blind  !  "Come,"  he  said  authoritatively, 
drawing  her  arm  through  his.  "  You  shall  hear  first 
what  I  have  to  say." 

She  turned  back  to  the  parlor  with  him,  dragging  a 
little  unwillingly  on  his  arm.  "  I  have  always  appre 
ciated  ' gentlemen's  society,'  as  it  is  called,  and  I  have 
to  a  degree  and  with  exceptions  loved  my  fellow  men, 
but  I  had  no  conception  until  lately  that  the  creatures 
had  it  in  them  to  be  so  wonderfully  and  fearfully  dull 
and  depressing  as  they  are  when  they  talk  of  their 
everlasting  business.  Hereafter,  if  I  have  my  choice, 
I  shall  always  prefer  *  hen  parties '  as  the  lesser  evil." 

With  an  elaborate  air  of  patience  she  seated  herself 
on  the  sofa  while  he  stirred  up  the  fire  and  brightened 
the  lamp.  As  he  began  to  talk,  she  was  inattentive 
at  first,  and  interpolated  irrelevant  remarks.  "  What 
a  lovely  voice  you  have,"  she  said,  as  her  eyes  wan 
dered  to  the  open  piano.  "  I  shall  be  wanting  you  to 
sing  all  day." 

As  he  began  to  recapitulate  the  details  of  the  codicil 
and  the  executor's  requirements  concerning  the  refund 
ing  clause,  she  broke  out,  "  Would  n't  you  hate  to  be 
as  chuffy  and  as  stuffy  as  Mr.  Hartagous  when  you 
come  to  be  of  his  age,  and  look  so  like  a  weasel  ?  " 

When  he  disclosed  the  real  mission  of  Mr.  Harta- 

378 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

gous,  to  effect  an  immediate  sale  of  Great  Oaks,  a  light 
suddenly  sprang  into  her  face,  and  her  voice  broke 
into  a  sob.  He  saw  that  the  situation  bore  far  more 
heavily  upon  her  than  she  had  manifested.  She  had 
been  whistling,  as  it  were,  to  keep  her  courage  up. 

"  How  providential !  "  she  cried.  "  It  breaks  my 
heart  now  to  part  from  Great  Oaks,  but  I  see  that  it 
is  the  only  way.  And  oh,  for  liberation  !  To  be  free 
from  debt.  The  sense  of  it  weighs  upon  me ;  I  can 
understand  the  agony  of  the  old  torture  of  death  by 
pressing." 

He  was  still  for  a  moment,  looking  at  her  in  sombre 
thought.  "  This  is  what  I  feared,"  he  said  at  last,  — 
"  your  precipitancy.  I  want  you  to  think,  to  survey 
the  ground  first,  to  test  the  possibilities." 

He  had  made  out  from  the  will  a  schedule  of  the 
properties,  with  their  approximate  values,  and  the 
amounts  by  years  of  the  annual  income  that  must  be 
returned.  He  went  across  the  room  and  sat  beside  her 
on  the  sofa,  that  they  might  look  over  the  page  to 
gether.  Her  face  paled  while  scanning  the  estimates, 
—  they  seemed  methodically  to  set  forth  financial 
ruin,  absolute,  hopeless. 

"  Then  why,  —  how  dare  that  man  come  here  and 
press  Mr.  Loring's  inadequate  offer  for  Great  Oaks  ?  " 
she  blazed  out. 

"Because  he  is  not  acting  in  your  interest,  but 
against  you." 

She  turned  and  looked  Desmond  in  the  face,  her 
beautiful  eyes  bewildering  at  these  close  quarters. 
He  dropped  his  own  eyes  on  the  paper  in  his  hands. 

379 


THE  FAIR   M  ISSISSIPPI  AN 

"  Mr.  Hartagous  must  distribute  the  estate  accord 
ing  to  the  terms  of  the  codicil.  As  executor  he  is 
constrained  by  law  to  require  the  refunding  of  your 
receipts  from  it.  He  is  coerced,  too,  by  the  position 
of  the  guardian,  who  also  has  no  option,  and  who  will 
in  the  changed  state  of  things  require  this  amount 
to  be  charged  against  your  portion  at  the  partition 
ing  of  the  estate  and  the  ascertaining  and  setting 
aside  of  the  several  shares  of  the  minors.  Naturally, 
Mr.  Hartagous  is  anxious  to  seize  the  first  opportu 
nity  of  converting  your  assets  to  make  good,  whatever 
sacrifice  it  may  impose  on  you.9' 

"What  shall  I  do?— oh,  what  shall  I  do?"  she 
cried,  in  despairing  realization  of  the  situation.  "But 
why  should  I  ask  ?  I  can  only  yield." 

"  You  can  temporize,  —  stand  out  for  the  full  value 
of  the  property,  —  fight  for  terms.  Time  is  your  ally. 
And  you  have  this  strength  in  your  position,  that 
you  might  give  them  a  contest ;  a  lawyer  might  find 
you  sufficient  grounds,  —  but,  at  all  events,  you  are 
entitled  to  a  fair  valution  of  your  property." 

"  But  even  then,  Edward,"  she  put  her  hand  on  his 
and  pressed  it  convulsively,  "  there  is  not  a  compe 
tence,  not  a  hope  from  the  estate  for  me." 

He  did  not  seek  to  encourage  her  by  false  repre 
sentations.  He  was  looking  the  disaster  squarely  in 
the  eye.  "  And  the  boys  are  powerless  for  years  to 
come  !  "  he  admitted  despondently. 

Her  lips  were  trembling  piteously.  "  I  have  not  a 
dollar  that  I  can  call  my  own.  I  have  not  a  friend  in 
the  world." 

380 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  You  have  me,  —  such  as  I  am,"  he  said,  his  eyes 
downcast,  still  on  the  papers. 

"  I  never  think  of  you,  —  you  are  like  another  self. 
But  you  are  my  friend,  and  I  am  not  alone !  You 
think  for  me,  —  you  rescued  me  at  the  risk  of  your 
life.  You  think  for  me,  —  you  care  for  me,  —  I  am 
not  alone ! " 

"  Care  for  you  ! "  he  broke  out,  tempted  beyond 
all  resistance.  "  I  care  for  nothing  else  on  God's 

O 

earth.  I  love  you,  —  I  love  you,  —  I  worship  you  !  " 

She  turned,  staring  at  him  in  quiet  surprise ;  then, 
as  if  she  thought  he  might  come  nearer,  she  put  one 
hand  against  his  shoulder,  holding  him  at  arm's  length. 

"  Oh,  I  should  have  eaten  out  my  heart  in  silence ; 
I  should  never  have  said  a  word  but  for  this  strange 
change,  when  you  seem  as  poor  as  I !  But  since  you 
feel  alone,  you  may  care  to  know  now  how  beloved, 
how  cherished,  how  adored  you  are  by  me." 

"  But  suppose,  —  suppose,"  —  she  was  still  looking 
hard  at  him,  into  his  very  eyes  —  "  but  suppose  it 
might  have  been  grateful  to  me  earlier  to  know  so 
much  —  " 

"  I  could  not  have  spoken  then  ;  I  could  not  have 
asked  you  to  make  so  great  a  sacrifice  for  me,  —  to 
relinquish  your  status  under  the  will." 

She  smiled  radiantly  at  him.  "  It  seems  to  me  now 
that  I  might  have  been  glad  to  make  that  sacrifice,  — 
for  you."  Once  more  her  hand  pressed  against  his 
shoulder  to  hold  him  at  arm's  length.  "But  it  can 
never  be,  now,"  she  stipulated,  "  when  I  can  give 
you  nothing." 

381 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  Nothing !  You  are  all  the  world  to  me,"  he  pro 
tested. 

"  No,  you  have  your  own  difficult  way  to  make,  and 
I  shall  not  burden  you.  It  was  only  a  fleeting  fancy 
that  came  over  me,  —  a  sentimental  glimpse  of  what 
I  might  have  felt  for  you  had  fortune  favored  us." 

"You  shall  not  decree  the  future,"  he  declared 
imperiously.  "  I  shall  fashion  it  for  us  both.  It  is  not 
yours  to  say.  You  have  said  enough.  I  know  your 
heart  better  than  you  do,  — I  believe  you  love  me — " 

"  Like  a  son,"  she  interrupted,  with  a  gurgling 
laugh.  "  I  am  older  than  you  by  ten  years." 

"  And  younger  by  a  century  in  spirit,  and  as  beauti 
ful  as  the  angels  in  heaven.  If  you  leave  Great  Oaks, 
we  go  forth  together.  Life  in  poor  conditions  would 
not  be  sordid  with  you.  It  would  always  be  fresh  and 
deliriously  sweet  and  forever  a  blessing,  whatever 
hardships  fate  might  impose.  I  am  strong  and  well 
equipped,  and  with  this  hand  in  mine  I  could  make 
my  way  against  all  the  world.  I  would  have  no  false 
pride  to  hamper  my  efforts,  so  truly  proud  would  I 
be  in  having  the  dear  privilege  of  working  for  you." 

"  Like  Chub,  —  would  you  dig  in  the  garden  ?  " 
The  anticlimax  was  of  conclusive  import  in  the  stress 
of  the  moment.  She  had  not  intended  to  yield,  but 
she  laughed  in  tender  recollection  of  her  little  son's 
childish  offer  of  help,  and  in  the  instant  of  relaxation 
she  burst  into  happy  tears.  Her  head  sank  on  Des 
mond's  shoulder,  and  his  arm  was  around  her. 

"  Like  Chub,  I  would  even  dig  in  the  garden,"  he 
protested. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

XT  was  not  yet  a  late  hour  when  Desmond  quitted 
the  parlor,  Mrs.  Faurie  having  flitted  away,  joyously 
protesting  that  the  consideration  of  such  nonsense 
as  his  discourse  was  undermining  to  the  reason.  The 
evening  had  resulted  in  so  signal  a  failure  to  entertain 
the  guest  acceptably  that  an  earlier  dispersal  than 
usual  had  supervened.  Nevertheless,  as  Desmond 
made  his  way  down  the  veranda  toward  the  library, 
intending  to  smoke  and  linger  an  hour  or  so  in  his 
chosen  haunt,  for  with  this  tumult  of  joy  and  expecta 
tion  and  triumph  in  his  brain  and  heart  he  knew  that 
he  could  not  soon  compose  himself  to  rest,  he  was 
surprised  in  turning  the  corner  to  see  a  light  upon 
the  waters  at  a  little  distance,  in  the  midst  of  the 
dark,  rippling  expanse  that  surrounded  the  mansion. 
The  night  wind  blew  dank  and  chill  across  the 
damp  purlieus  of  the  veranda,  the  flooring  of  which 
was  always  splashed  and  reeking  from  the  tossing 
waves  of  the  recent  landing  of  some  dugout  at  vari 
ous  points,  but  it  brought  no  other  sound  than  the 
monotonous  voices  of  the  night,  so  accustomed  that 
they  scarcely  impinged  upon  the  consciousness :  the 
stir  of  the  foliage  of  the  great  oaks,  the  effect  of 
their  stately  avenues  "  queered "  by  their  diluvian 
surroundings ;  the  iterative  batrachian  chorus  from 
some  insular  "  high  ground  "  far  away ;  the  sudden 
bellow  of  a  bull  alligator ;  and  always  the  murmur 

383 


THE   FAIR  Mi  SSISSIPPI  AN 

of  the  widespread  shallows  of  the  overflow  under  the 
influence  of  the  breeze. 

The  light  was  stationary,  and  though  it  was  now 
the  dark  of  the  moon  and  Desmond  had  only  the 
vague  illumination  of  the  myriad  stars  of  the  clear 
spring  night,  he  made  out  behind  it  the  dull  outline 
of  a  small  boat.  A  lantern  was  evidently  carried  at 
the  prow,  and  despite  the  fact  that  the  light  annulled 
the  suggestion  of  secrecy,  Desmond  fancied  that  the 
motionless  pause  bespoke  observation.  Suddenly  he 
heard  the  impact  of  a  paddle  upon  the  water,  and  be 
came  aware  that  the  craft  was  about  to  turn.  The  spy, 
if  spy  he  were,  intended  to  retrace  his  course ;  —  not 
until  he  should  have  given  an  account  of  himself, 
Desmond  resolved,  and  of  his  mission,  scouting  about 
on  the  dark  waters  of  the  overflow,  making  his  secret 
observations  of  Great  Oaks  mansion  when  asleep  and 
off  its  guard. 

"  Hello,  the  boat !  "  Desmond's  strong  young  voice 
carried  like  a  clarion  across  the  flooded  distance. 

The  answer  came,  hearty  and  reassuring:  "Hello, 
the  house !  " 

The  dugout  swung  around  once  more,  and  as  its 
prow  was  presented  to  Desmond's  eye  as  it  advanced 
in  a  direct  line,  its  bulk  was  obliterated,  and  this  gave 
the  man  who  stood  erect  plying  his  paddle  in  the  In 
dian  fashion  the  weird  effect  of  walking  on  the  water 
as  he  approached  the  house  in  the  dare-obscure. 

"  God !  What  is  that  ?  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Hartagous, 
looking  out  from  the  dark  window  close  at  hand.  He 
had  been  roused  by  the  tutor's  ringing  call  to  the 

384 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

boatman,  and,  apprehending  some  disturbance,  had  in 
the  instant's  time  secured  his  trousers  and  his  pistol, 
the  two  essentials  to  dignified  midnight  combat.  The 
light  from  the  lantern  of  the  dugout,  which  now 
began  to  head  for  a  landing  at  the  veranda,  was  flung 
far  out  on  the  watery  gloom,  and  sent  a  ray  to  the 
long  window,  illumining  a  tousled  mass  of  gray  hair 
and  whiskers,  and  a  puckered  face  of  most  discordant 
and  disconcerted  petulance. 

"  Nare  light  do  you  show,  Mr.  Desmond,"  said  the 
voice  of  Bainbridge,  the  manager,  from  the  dugout. 
"  You  are  such  owels  up  here  at  the  big  house  that 
I  made  sure  o'  findin'  you  up,  anyhow.  Why,  't  ain't 
quite  eleven  o'clock." 

"  And  what  in  hell  do  you  mean  by  sidling  up  to 
Great  Oaks  mansion  in  the  middle  of  the  night  in 
this  enigmatic  way  without  warning?"  demanded  the 
lawyer,  testily,  — he  evidently  considered  Desmond  a 
mere  attache  of  the  household  and  with  no  preroga 
tive  to  speak  with  authority.  Therefore  he  took  bold 
precedence.  "And  who  are  you? — and  what  mischief 
are  you  bent  upon  ?  " 

"  Ah-h-h !  It 's  you  bent  on  mischief,  Mr.  Harta- 
gous  !  Mischief  is  the  trade  of  all  your  tribe !  "  tartly 
retorted  the  manager,  none  of  whose  interests  could 
be  imperiled  by  the  lawyer,  and  whose  nerves  were 
already  exacerbated  by  the  jeopardy  of  all  his  pros 
pects  in  the  impending  changes. 

"  Oh,  is  it  Mr.  Bainbridge,  the  manager  ?  Beg  par 
don,  my  good  man.  I  did  n't  recognize  you  in  the 
darkness,  —  but  you  should  really  let  people  sleep  in 

385 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

peace  "  ;  then  with  an  accession  of  acerbity,  —  "  bucca 
neering  around  in  the  overflow  at  this  time  of  night!  " 

It  hardly  affected  Desmond  that  Mr.  Hartagous 
should  take  the  pas,  the  air  of  control  in  these  matters 
appertaining  to  Great  Oaks  Plantation,  as  if  the  power 
of  its  possessor  and  her  staff  were  already  a  thing  of 
the  past;  but  Mr.  Bainbridge  was  not  used  to  such 
reversals  of  spiteful  fortune.  Wind  and  weather  had 
worked  him  much  woe  in  his  agricultural  experience ; 
desperate  calamities,  such  as  the  overflow,  had  visited 
him  more  than  once ;  but  these  mischances  supervened 
in  his  professional  conflict  with  natural  forces,  and 
were  the  dispensations  of  established  authority,  the 
"  hand  of  God,"  to  use  the  pious  commercial  phrase 
ology,  and  he  submitted  to  them  with  such  broaden 
ing  of  his  back  to  the  burden  and  such  patience  as 
he  could  muster.  The  disaster,  however,  which  men 
aced  the  tenure  of  Great  Oaks  Plantation,  this  fla 
grant  injustice,  this  legalized  mischief,  was  the  artifice 
of  man,  the  deflection  of  the  will  of  the  testator 
rather  than  its  execution,  and  he  entertained  scant  tol 
eration  of  the  operations  of  law  that  permitted  it  and 
the  person  of  its  representative.  It  threw  Mr.  Bain- 
bridge  out  of  an  employment  in  which  he  was  well 
satisfied  and  had  given  satisfaction  these  many  years, 
for  he  had  a  ghastly  prevision  of  the  overthrow  of  all 
the  existing  status  which  would  ensue  under  a  new 
owner. 

"  Oh,"  he  said  with  jaunty  bravado,  as  he  ran  the 
nose  of  the  dugout  close  to  the  veranda  and  sprang 
heavily  upon  the  flooring,  securing  the  trace  chain 

386 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

that  served  as  painter  around  one  of  the  columns, 
"  me  and  Mr.  Desmond  go  on  a  '  high  old  lonesome ' 
most  any  time  o'  night.  We  don't  keep  reg'lar  hours 
in  the  swamp,  you  see,  like  you  cits  do  in  Memphis, — 
early  to  bed  and  early  to  rise  makes  you-all  so  all-fired 
healthy,  wealthy,  and  wise." 

Mr.  Hartagous  sputtered,  but  no  immediate  answer 
occurred  to  him,  though  presently  he  found  cause 
to  admonish  Mr.  Bainbridge  of  his  heavy  footfall. 
"  You  '11  wake  up  the  whole  house,  —  you  tramp  like 
a  grenadier." 

"And  what  sort  o'  animal  might  that  be, — four- 
footed  ?  "  queried  Mr.  Bainbridge,  affecting  deep  igno 
rance. 

Mr.  Hartagous  disdained  to  reply,  but  the  ad 
monition  touching  his  resonant  swinging  gait  had 
not  been  altogether  lost  on  Bainbridge,  and  to  avoid 
passing  on  the  veranda,  thus  noisily,  the  vicinity  of 
Mrs.  Faurie's  room,  he  entered  unceremoniously  at  the 
long  French  window  at  which  Mr.  Hartagous  stood, 
intending  to  traverse  the  guest's  apartment  and  thus 
reach  the  cross-hall  in  order  to  take  his  way  thence 
to  the  library,  where  he  could  discuss  his  errand  with 
the  tutor.  Desmond  followed,  meditating  some  lubri 
cating  word  of  apology.  But  Bainbridge  continued  in 
sarcastic  ill-humor  :  "  I  never  did  pretend  to  be  one 
of  your  soft-steppin',  Slip-Slinksy  sort  o'  fellows.  I 
could  understand  your  objections  to  having  him  sly- 
ing  around  the  house  of  a  night,  but  —  "  He  paused 
abruptly  as  he  opened  the  door  leading  into  the  cross- 
hall;  the  stoppage  was  a  sort  of  galvanic  shudder, 

387 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

such  as  might  befit  a  cessation  of  steam  propulsion. 
He  turned  toward  the  others,  over  his  big  brawny 
shoulders,  a  face  visibly  paling  beneath  its  sunburn 
in  the  gleam  of  the  candle  which  the  saturnine  Harta- 
gous  had  just  lighted. 

"  Hist,"  he  said,  and  silence  fell.  For  outside  in  the 
distance  and  the  darkness,  so  soft  that  one  might 
wonder  that  it  should  be  so  distinct,  was  that  vague 
sense  of  an  unseen  progression,  —  a  step,  or  rather 
the  impact  of  a  foot  with  the  pile  of  the  velvet  carpet 
of  the  padded  stair,  a  silken  sibilance,  then  silence, 
and  again  a  footfall  ascending  the  flight. 

It  was  audible  to  Mr.  Hartagous  as  he  stood  half 
dressed  beside  the  table.  A  dismayed,  protesting  ques 
tion  was  in  the  wrinkles  and  corrugations  of  his  face 
as  he  turned  it  toward  the  door ;  a  keen,  excited  gleam 
shone  in  his  eyes,  for  he,  too,  had  heard  of  the  fur 
tive  spectre  of  Great  Oaks.  The  blazing  match  in  his 
hand  burned  unheeded  to  the  tips  of  his  fingers. 
When  the  flame  touched  the  flesh  he  dropped  the 
match,  but  without  a  word  or  sound.  It  seemed  to 
have  tangibly  kindled  his  intention,  his  resolution. 
It  was  hardly  possible  to  imagine  a  man  of  his  age 
and  so  portly,  who  was  now  so  light  of  movement. 
He  had  noiselessly  thrust  his  bare  feet  into  his  bed 
room  slippers,  great  yawning  foot-gear,  placed  his 
revolver  in  the  pistol  pocket  of  his  trousers,  while  he 
held  in  his  hand  a  thing  that  to  the  rustic  Mr.  Bain- 
bridge  seemed  a  pocketbook,  but  which  Desmond 
recognized  as  one  of  the  tiny  electric  lamps  that  have 
this  semblance.  He  dropped  the  conical  extinguisher 

388 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

over  the  newly  lighted  flame  of  the  caudle,  and  in  a 
moment  all  was  darkness  and  silence. 

Each  of  the  others  recognized  the  lawyer's  deter 
mination  to  see  the  thing  out.  Bainbridge,  for  all  his 
bold  initiative  in  matters  cognate  to  daylight,  fell 
behind  him  as  Mr.  Hartagous  briskly  flung  the  door 
wide  and  shuffled  noiselessly  along  the  hall.  For  one 
moment  Desmond  felt  an  agony  of  indecision.  He 
had  an  unreasoning  instinct  to  call  out  and  give 
the  forlorn  old  spectre  some  warning  of  the  fell 
forces  of  flesh  and  blood  that  were  even  now  upon 
his  elusive  track,  that  he  might  craftily  compass  his 
disappearance  as  more  than  once  heretofore.  Then  he 
hesitated.  He  had  shrunk  from  such  knowledge  as 
had  come  to  him  as  to  the  details  in  the  concealment 
of  the  codicil  of  the  will,  and  he  had  found  its  only 
extenuation  in  the  doubt  of  Mr.  Stanlett's  sanity  and 
responsibility.  It  was  impossible  to  judge  how  this 
might  have  stood  in  the  beginning,  but  now,  when 
it  was  so  obviously  futile  and  the  ghostly  step  was 
once  more  wandering  through  the  midnight  quiet  of 
Great  Oaks  mansion,  he  became  afraid  of  interference, 
-  discovery  could  only  prove  the  mental  unsound- 
ness  that  was  at  last  poor  Slip-Slinksy's  protection. 
Moreover,  Mr.  Hartagous  was  now  halfway  up  the 
stairs ;  Bainbridge,  sitting  on  the  bottom  step,  had 
pulled  off  his  high  boots  and  followed  in  his  stock 
ing  feet  as  noiseless  as  a  cat.  Nevertheless,  the  crafty 
old  spectre  had  become  aware  of  their  approach.  Not 
a  sound,  not  a  stir,  issued  from  above.  He  was  still 
up  there  somewhere  in  the  darkness.  Surely  he  could 

389 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

scarcely  have  drawn  a  breath  as  the  two  below  stood 
on  the  stairs,  motionless  also,  watching",  waiting. 
Desmond,  lingering  in  the  hall  beneath,  one  hand  on 
the  newel-post,  felt  a  rush  of  indignation,  knowing 
what  he  did.  The  two  spies,  stalwart,  alert,  both  more 
than  a  score  of  years  younger,  could  easily  wear  out 
the  endurance  of  the  poor,  patient,  disappointed  ghost, 
whose  lawless  mission  had  always  been  instinct  with 
beneficent  intention.  Yet  not  so  easily,  perhaps ;  for 
presently,  when  a  timber  of  the  stair  creaked,  Des 
mond  knew  that  Bainbridge,  his  muscles  stiff  and 
cramping,  had  been  forced  to  shift  his  weight. 

The  house  within  was  absolutely  noiseless.  The 
half-moon  of  glass  above  the  doors  at  the  front 
showed  its  presence  in  a  dim  gray  contour,  but  shed 
no  light.  The  splashing  of  the  water  of  the  over 
flow  under  the  buffets  of  the  wind  was  distinct  in  the 
pause.  Once  a  gust  went  skirling  with  a  wild,  chill 
voice  among  the  score  of  chimneys,  and  passed  into 
the  distance,  and  silence  ensued.  Suddenly  a  light 
cut  the  gloom  like  a  knife.  There,  standing  on  the 
landing,  was  the  spectre  of  the  tradition,  the  cocked 
hat  upon  its  white  hair,  powdered,  alas  !  only  by  time, 
its  cloak  falling  almost  to  its  heels,  its  eyes  blazing 
with  that  fierce  yet  consciously  helpless  anger  of  the 
aged,  and  its  lips  drawn  close  and  thin  to  keep  the 
secret  that  battered  against  their  reticence. 

Mr.  Hartagous  had  crept  up  the  stairs  like  a  pan 
ther  in  his  eagerness  for  his  prey,  yet  at  the  instant 
of  discovery  he  slunk  back  amazed  and  disconcerted. 
"  Mr.  Stanlett,"  he  exclaimed,  his  finger  failing  for 

390 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

a  moment  in  the  pressure  on  the  button,  and  the 
whole  scene  vanishing  into  darkness  with  a  leaping 
suddenness,  then  as  suddenly  leaping  into  view,  "I 
am  astonished  at  you  ! " 

"  And  I  cannot  express  my  surprise,"  the  old  gen 
tleman  said,  with  a  crisp  sarcasm  that  had  an  unex 
pected  edge.  His  eyes  ran  deliberately  over  the  details 
of  the  unconventional  aspect  and  attire  of  Mr.  Har- 
tagous :  his  bushy,  tousled  gray  hair  and  whiskers ; 
his  burly,  much  wrinkled  throat,  left  bare  without 
collar  or  cravat;  his  suspenders,  all  unadjusted,  still 
hanging  from  the  waistband  of  his  trousers  and 
dangling  sashwise  almost  to  his  heels;  his  bare  feet 
and  ankles  revealed  nearly  in  their  entirety  by  his 
loose,  yawning  bedroom  slippers.  And  he  had  not 
the  wit  to  take  his  thumb  from  the  button  of  the 
lamp.  "I  cannot  express  my  surprise  to  detect  you 
skulking,  noiseless,  in  this  unshod  condition,  about  a 
house  in  which  you  are  a  guest.  Fie !  Fie !  Mr.  Har- 
tagous.  If  you  have  taken  a  fancy  to  any  valuables 
of  ours,  why,  speak  out,  man,  and  we  will  give  them 
to  you !  We  have  lost  too  much  lately  not  to  realize 
the  vanity  of  earthly  hoardings." 

Mr.  Hartagous  might  have  seemed  of  the  porpoise 
family,  so  resonant  were  the  deep  and  gusty  breaths 
he  drew.  "  Before  God,  old  man,  I  have  a  mind  to 
throw  you  down  these  stairs,"  he  cried,  in  fury  and 
amaze  that  such  an  imputation,  though  forced  and 
satiric  as  it  was,  could  be  cast  on  his  conduct.  "I 
have  a  mind  to  throw  you  down  these  stairs!" 

"  Have  a  care,  have  a  care  of  your  fellow  burglar, 
391 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

then,"  cried  Mr.  Stanlett,  secure  in  the  immunity  of 
his  age  and  his  weakness.  "  Stand  from  under,  my 
good  Mr.  Bainbridge." 

Mr.  Hartagous  had  never  dreamed  how  much  of 
his  acumen  as  a  lawyer,  his  dignity  as  a  man,  his 
force  as  an  individual,  appertained  to  his  usual  smart 
metropolitan  costume.  He  made  a  desperate  effort  to 
lay  hold  on  his  wonted  identity. 

"  But  you  have  your  own  conduct  to  explain,  Mr. 
Stanlett,"  he  said  severely. 

"  Explain  ?  —  to  whom  ?  —  to  you  ?  "  the  old  man 
flouted  contemptuously. 

And  Mr.  Hartagous  was  aware  that  this  was  not 
the  noted  cross-examiner  whom  he  had  hitherto  recog* 
nized  in  himself. 

"  You  surely  know,  Mr.  Stanlett,"  he  began  anew, 
"that  your  mysterious  midnight  rovings  about  this 
house  have  given  rise  to  misinterpretations — " 

"  Strange,  —  strange  that  you  should  think  so,  and 
yet  go  roving  too  !  "  said  Mr.  Stanlett,  his  eyes  burn 
ing. 

Mr.  Bainbridge,  a  good  deal  perturbed  by  the  un 
expected  falling  out  of  the  event,  yet  nevertheless 
reassured  too  to  find  the  familiar  figure  of  the  old 
gentleman  in  lieu  of  the  unimagined  spectre,  in  an 
ticipation  of  which  his  stout  heart  had  quailed,  sud 
denly  broke  out  in  his  burly  voice :  "  Well,  I  ain't 
faultin'  Mr.  Stanlett,  anyhows  he  chooses  to  do."  He 
had  known  him  since  his  own  early  youth,  and  his 
veneration  had  the  strength  of  long  habit.  "  He  can 
have  his  own  way  at  Great  Oaks.  If  he  has  a  mind 

392 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

to  sit  up  late  of  a  night  and  loaf  about  the  house,  it 
is  his  own  affair.  No  curfew  here !  If  I  had  ha* 
known  that  Slip-Slinksy  was  you,  sir,  I  'd  ha*  been 
in  my  dugout  and  a  mile  away  by  now."  The  tone 
of  respect,  of  consideration,  to  which  the  old  gentle 
man  was  accustomed,  broke  down  his  reserve.  He 
could  meet  defiance  with  taunts,  and  reproaches  with 
sarcasm,  but  he  melted  before  kindness. 

"  Oh,  Jerry,  Jerry  Bainbridge,"  he  wailed,  hold 
ing  out  both  hands  and  shaking  his  old  gray  head, 
so  fantastic  in  its  cocked  hat,  dismally  to  and  fro,  "  I 
was  just  hunting  for  a  will,  —  a  better  will  than  that 
poisonous  paper  that  is  to  destroy  us  all.  Faurie  never 
intended  that  such  a  will  should  hold.  Night  after 
night,  year  after  year,  I  laid  it  away  and  hunted  for 
a  better  one.  And  I  'm  hunting  for  it  yet,  and  I  '11 
hunt  for  it  till  I  die,  —  and  maybe  I  '11  find  it  yet." 
Then  breaking  off  suddenly,  with  a  look  of  proud 
and  deep  offense,  "  Slip-Slinksy,  —  that  ?s  what  they 
call  me  !  Slip-Slinksy  !  "  He  repeated  the  distasteful 
word,  while  a  vivid  flush  mounted  to  the  roots  of  his 
silver  hair. 

"  But  nobody  knowed  't  was  you,  Mr.  Stanlett," 
Bainbridge  urged  caressingly,  yet  with  deep  respect. 
"  You  are  more  looked  up  to  than  anybody  in  Deep- 
water  Bend." 

In  view  of  the  tone  of  this  interlocutor,  it  seemed 
to  Mr.  Stanlett  not  derogatory  to  his  dignity  to  de 
fend  himself.  "  It  was  my  duty,  Bainbridge,  my  duty. 
I  had  promised  Faurie.  My  word  was  out." 

Mr.  Hartagous  cocked  up  his  head  to  listen  and 

393 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

bent  his  brows.  "  What  promise  was  this  which  you 
gave  to  Mr.  Faurie,  if  I  may  ask?"  he  demanded, 
puzzled. 

"  I  recognize  no  obligation  to  inform  you,  Mr. 
Hartagous,  and  no  coercion  in  your  question,"  re 
plied  Mr.  Stanlett,  with  dignity.  "  But  I  would  not 
willingly  seem  churlish  and  reticent.  I  have  no  ob 
jection  to  answer,  now  that  that  unfortunate  codicil 
has  been  produced  —  none  whatever.  Mr.  Faurie 
urged  me  to  search  for  another  will  till  I  found  it, — 
I  say  a  '  will/  but  '  paper-writing '  was  the  word  he 
used." 

A  pause  ensued,  while  his  fantastic  figure  on  the 
landing,  with  the  divergent  rays  of  the  lamp  full 
upon  him,  stood  silent  and  stiff,  as  he  looked  down  at 
the  brilliant  focus  of  the  electric  wire  in  the  case, 
which  dulled  the  dim  group  about  it  on  the  stairs. 

"  When  did  Mr.  Faurie  tell  you  that  ?  "  asked  the 
wondering  lawyer. 

"  Just  about  four  years  after  he  died,"  the  old  man 
replied,  quite  simply. 

A  thrill  of  astonished  comprehension  quivered 
through  the  group  on  the  stairs.  Hartagous,  accus 
tomed  to  a  sedulous  facial  control,  did  not  change 
countenance  or  speak  ;  his  thumb,  however,  trembled 
on  the  button  of  the  lamp,  and  the  scene  fluttered 
back  and  forth,  ghostly-wise,  through  the  darkness. 
But  both  the  other  listeners  exclaimed,  each  after 
the  fashion  of  his  wonted  phraseology,  though  neither 
could  have  remembered  his  own  words  a  moment 
later.  Mr.  Staulett  apprehended  the  amazement  in 

394 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

the  tones,  and  his  interest,  which  had  seemed  but 
a  jaded  familiarity  with  an  old  experience,  pricked 
up  suddenly. 

"Very  remarkable,  was  n't  it?"  he  said.  "I  re 
member  that  it  surprised  me  extremely  at  the  time, 
though  really  I  don't  know  that  it  should.  Faurie 
was  always  different  from  anybody  else.  I  was  in  the 
blue  room  up  there,  where  after  his  death  we  had 
packed  away  all  of  his  papers  which  he  had  seemed 
to  consider  of  no  particular  account,  till  you  sent 
here,  as  executor,  for  those  cursed  levee  bonds."  He 
paused  to  glare  down  with  sudden  wolfish  rancor  at 
Hartagous,  then  resumed  abruptly :  "  I  was  ransack 
ing  the  papers  again,  for  in  searching  for  the  levee 
bonds  I  had  found  that  codicil  to  the  will, — which 
I  wish  to  God  I  had  never  seen  or  had  burnt  on  the 
spot.  I  knew  the  havoc  that  four  years  of  Honoria's 
expenditures  would  make  in  her  provision  if  they 
were  chargeable  against  her  portion  in  the  partition 
of  the  estate.  Four  years'  income,  —  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  dollars.  It  seemed  immense  then  ! 
And  now  it  is  nearly  seven  years'  income  derived 
from  the  general  estate  that  she  must  refund,  and 
in  addition  all  the  yield  of  the  crops  of  Great  Oaks 
Plantation." 

He  paused,  his  dreary,  sunken  eyes  lifted  suddenly 
to  the  upper  story  opposite  the  landing,  and  Bain- 
bridge  began  to  quake  so  perceptibly  for  the  thought 
of  what  might  be  leaning  lightly  over  the  balustrade, 
a  graceful  manly  figure,  which  he  could  see  well 
enough  though  he  would  not  look  toward  it,  that  the 

395 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

stout  stair-rail  shook  responsive  to  the  quiver  of  his 
brawny  hand  laid  upon  it.  He  kept  instead  his  atten 
tion  fixed  resolutely  on  Mr.  Stanlett' s  lean,  pallid  face, 
with  its  fantastic  headgear  and  its  fiery  eyes.  There 
seemed  naught  more  definite  than  mere  memory  be 
fore  them,  for  he  went  on  as  if  he  had  been  only 
arranging  the  sequence  of  the  events  in  his  mind. 
"  It  surprised  me  then  considerably,  but  now  it  seems 
no  great  matter.  Faurie  came  in  suddenly,  as  if  it 
were  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world,  and  he 
said,  —  you  know  that  way  he  had  of  demanding 
impossibilities  of  people  and  getting  them  too, — 
'  Keep  back  that  codicil,  Mr.  Stanlett,  —  there  is  an 
other  paper-writing;  find  it  and  present  them  both 
together.'  He  was  pale  and  eager.  He  seemed  des 
perately  in  earnest.  He  was  dressed  for  riding,  —  he 
had  come  from  far.  I  wonder  which  horse  he  had  ! 
He  held  a  riding-crop  in  his  hand,  and  he  struck  the 
codicil  contemptuously  with  it,  —  you  remember  his 
tempestuous  ways  when  he  was  angered,  and  he  had 
that  fine  air  of  scorn  that  used  to  become  him  so 
well,  —  he  struck  the  codicil  as  the  paper  lay  open  on 
the  table.  And  you  can  see  the  welt  of  his  riding- 
crop  across  it  now."  Mr.  Hartagous  was  conscious 
of  a  vague  icy  touch  that  seemed  to  delineate  the 
course  of  his  spinal  column  in  successive  shivers,  for 
he  was  remembering  that  he  had  noticed  an  unac 
countable  diagonal  indentation  athwart  the  paper 
when  it  had  been  recently  produced  in  court. 

The  recital  had  been  to  Mr.  Stanlett  a  tremendous 
nervous  strain  ;  the  old  face  began  to  quiver  and  the 

396 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

voice  broke  into  whimpers,  and  the  thin  hands  were 
aimlessly  fluttering.  "  And  't  was  just  like  Faurie  to 
set  me  to  search  and  never  tell  me  for  what  nor 
where.  'Paper-writing!'],  have  looked — and  looked 

—  for  the  paper-writing,  —  and   I  have  looked  for 
him,  too,  but  I  have  never  seen  him  since,  —  though 

—  sometimes  "  —  Mr.  Stanlett  glanced  furtively  over 
his  shoulder  at  the  ascending  flight  of  stairs  —  "I 
have  heard  his  step  .behind  me  as  I  went  hunting — 
hunting  —  for  the  '  paper-writing.'  If  I  had  met  him 
once  on  these  dark  stairs,  I  'd  have  held  on  to  him, 
dead  or  alive,  till  I  got  some  data  as  to  what  and 
where." 

As  the  tall,  thin  figure  wavered  to  and  fro  and 
seemed  about  to  fall,  Bainbridge  pushed  hastily  past 
Mr.  Hartagous  on  the  stair  and  offered  a  supporting 
arm  to  the  old  gentleman.  "  Such  tiresome  times, 
Jerry  Bainbridge,  that  I  have,  to  be  sure.  I  need  my 
sleep,  —  I  need  my  night's  rest,"  he  plained,  looking 
out  of  the  deep,  pathetic,  sunken  eyesockets  of  the 
aged :  "  to  watch,  and  wait,  and  listen,  and  slip,  and 
search,  —  't  was  mighty  hard !  And  then  to  be  heard, 
after  all.  To  be  followed  and  spied  out  by  this  lawyer, 
and  Desmond,  and  you,  —  Slip-Slinksy  !  "  he  repeated 
with  a  repugnant  mutter. 

Suddenly  the  light  went  out,  leaving  the  whole  in 
darkness.  Mr.  Hartagous  pressed  the  button  in  vain. 
"  The  battery  is  exhausted.  It  will  have  to  be  re 
charged,"  he  remarked  impersonally,  as  he  turned  on 
the  stair. 

Desmond  was  suddenly  sensible  of  his  position  as 

397 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

quasi-host,  and  he  felt  the  Great  Oaks  traditions  of 
hospitality  had  hardly  been  maintained  in  the  treat 
ment  that  Mr.  Hartagous  had  received  on  the  stairs. 
"  I  will  get  a  candle  immediately.  There  is  a  fire  in 
the  library  still,  Mr.  Hartagous ;  it  has  grown  quite 
chilly.  Perhaps  you  might  care  to  have  a  cigar  there." 

He  addressed  the  unresponsive  darkness  apparently, 
in  which,  however,  the  queer  figure  of  Mr.  Hartagous 
was  scarcely  invisible,  so  definitely  had  it  impressed 
itself  upon  the  memory ;  but  it  was  shuffling  along 
very  systematically,  for  his  voice  came  from  out  the 
gloom,  far  down  the  hall  and  near  his  own  door: 
"  Thanks,  thanks,  very  much ;  I  will  put  on  some 
thing  extra  —  I  feel  the  change  of  the  temperature 
—  and  join  you  presently." 

Mr.  Stanlett  was  not  altogether  self-absorbed. 
"  Why,  Desmond,  why  don't  you  offer  him  a  night 
cap?"  he  called  out  genially,  from  the  darkness  of 
the  landing.  "Make  him  mix  you  a  toddy  in  the 
library,  Hartagous.  He  has  n't  got  so  little  sense  as 
you  might  think !  He  knows  how  to  do  that,  at  any 
rate  !  "  Then  with  a  distressful  quaver  :  "  Take  some 
thing,  Hartagous.  You  ain't  used  to  the  Slip-Slinksy 
business  like  me.  Slip-Slinksy,  —  the  very  boys  call 
me  that !  "  And  now  again  jocund,  though  ever  and 
anon  his  voice  broke,  "  Do  a  little  rummaging  around 
in  the  dining-room,  Desmond,  and  see  if  you  can't 
put  two  and  two  together,  —  a  sandwich  and  a  de 
canter." 

"  But  won't  you  join  us,  Mr.  Stanlett,"  demanded 
Desmond,  cheerily,  for  he  judged  from  the  diminish- 

398 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

ing  distance  of  his  voice  that  the  old  gentleman  was 
approaching  on  the  arm  of  Bainbridge  ;  but  Mr.  Stan- 
lett  fell  anew  to  whimpering,  and  said  that  he  wanted 
to  be  in  his  bed,  and  indeed  in  his  grave,  that  ought 
to  have  been  made  long  ago  with  him  laid  at  peace 

within  it,  for  the  days  had  come  in  which  he  could 

«/ 

take  no  pleasure  and  the  nights  in  which  he  could 
take  no  rest.  Then  he  broke  off,  smartly  to  reprimand 
Bainbridge  for  stumbling,  and  pathetically  averred, 
"  But  I  have  had  more  practice  in  walking  in  the  dark. 
My  conscience !  I  am  familiar  with  the  face  of  the 
night.  Some  terrible  features  it  has,  too.  It  is  made 
up  of  grimaces  !  " 


CHAPTER  XIX 

W  HEN  Mr.  Hartagous  repaired  to  the  library,  he 
scarcely  compared  in  regard  to  apparel  with  the  point- 
device  Desmond,  who  was  still  in  the  attire  that  he 
had  worn  at  the  somewhat  formal  dinner  early  in  the 
evening,  but  the  guest's  aspect  was  far  more  conven 
tional  than  during  the  episode  on  the  staircase.  As 
he  blew  a  refreshing  whiff  of  cigar  smoke  from  his 
lips  and  allowed  a  second  to  curl  in  thin  tendrils 
through  his  nose,  he  sank  deep  in  his  easy  chair  and 
stretched  out  his  slippered  feet  luxuriously  to  the 
fire.  They  were  now  encased  also  in  natty  black 
silk  socks,  which  came  well  up  under  the  trousers  and 
hid  the  ankles,  erstwhile  so  frankly  displayed.  His 
hair  had  been  hastily  brushed,  and  though  he  still 
wore  no  collar  nor  tie,  his  iron-gray  whiskers,  parted 
and  smoothed  in  his  swift  toilet,  touched  the  edge 
of  a  jaunty  smoking-jacket,  just  donned,  of  quilted 
bronze  silk  faced  with  cardinal  red.  He  was  more 
bland  now  than  in  his  demeanor  hitherto ;  perhaps 
because  of  the  genial  influence  of  the  decanter  and 
glasses  on  the  library  table,  he  had  reached  the  con 
clusion  that  suavity  was  the  best  method  to  enlist  the 
good-will  of  the  tutor,  and  throw  his  influence  in  the 
household,  which  might  be  considerable,  to  the  ad 
vantage  of  the  executor  in  effecting  the  sale  of  Great 
Oaks  Plantation  and  a  pacific  settlement  under  the 
terms  of  the  codicil  to  the  will. 

400 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

"  Why,  I  had  no  idea  that  Mr.  Stanlett  had  aged 
so  much,  —  greatly  broken  !  "  he  remarked  confiden 
tially.  "  He  is  practically  demented.  Utterly  irrespon 
sible  !  Did  you  note  what  he  said  about  having  hidden 
the  codicil?  I  wonder  how  long  he  has  had  it  in  his 
possession, — might  approximate  the  time  by  the  dura 
tion  of  the  tradition  of  the  ghostly  footfall  at  Great 
Oaks." 

"  He  could  n't  have  had  a  nefarious  intention,  or 
he  would  have  destroyed  the  paper ;  yet  he  must 
have  known  how  disastrous  delay  in  producing  it 
would  be  to  Mrs.Faurie's  interests,"  argued  Desmond, 
dispassionately. 

"  You  are  reasoning  like  a  sane  man,  but  his  course 
is  insanity,"  rejoined  Mr.  Hartagous.  u  I  suppose  that 
the  shock  of  the  discovery  impaired  his  powers  of 
discrimination.  There  must  have  been  some  earlier 
cerebral  lesion,  some  obscure  affection  of  the  brain, 
to  which  this  incident  gave  expression.  His  delusion 
is  very  curious,  —  the  apparition  of  Faurie ;  great 
verisimilitude  in  that  character  sketch,  —  1  could 
almost  see  him  myself  !  " 

"  What  strikes  me  as  amazing  is  that  he  should 

o 

never  have  shared  his  secret,  —  that  he  could  guard 
his  delusion  and  his  search  for  a  *  paper-writing ' 
through  so  many  years  with  so  many  narrow  escapes 
from  detection,"  said  Desmond. 

"  Well,  insanity  is  essentially  abnormal." 
"  He  is  insane  in  no  other  respect,  apparently," 
Desmond  suggested. 

"  This  is  a  case  of  '  the  fixed  idea/  "  said  Harta- 

401 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

gous.  "  It  is  a  good  thing  that  he  is  not  legally  re 
sponsible,  —  that  is,  if  his  possession  of  the  codicil 
was  not  also  a  delusion  from  the  beginning." 

"  You  think  that  possible  ?  "  said  Desmond,  with 
raised  eyebrows. 

"  Anything  is  possible  in  this  connection.  But  it 
doesn't  matter,  —  he  is  wholly  irresponsible.  Bad 
thing  he  has  made  out  of  it  for  Mrs.  Faurie  !  It  will 
leave  her  practically  stranded  for  life,  unless  indeed 
she  should  make  an  advantageous  second  marriage, 
which  I  hope  to  heaven  she  may." 

"  That  is  hardly  likely,"  said  Desmond,  with  his 
eyes  on  the  fire. 

Mr.  Hartagous  bent  his  bushy  gray  eyebrows  in 
insistent  argument.  "And  why  not?  She  is  extremely 
beautiful,  and  the  years  literally  make  no  impression 
upon  her.  She  is  as  young  and  as  handsome  as  she 
was  at  nineteen.  And  she  is  very  fascinating,  in  the 
best  sense  of  the  word.  A  very  charming  and  de 
lightful  woman  !  Her  piteous  prospects  in  this  change 
have  worried  me  no  little.  Indeed,  that  is  doubtless 
the  one  hope,  —  an  advantageous  second  marriage. 
Among  us  we  must  try  and  save  enough  to  her  out 
of  the  estate  to  put  her  in  a  position  —  temporary, 
of  course  —  to  be  able  to  make  it,  —  go  somewhere 
for  a  while,  Memphis,  or  New  Orleans,  or  New  York. 
Buried  here  in  the  woods,  she  will  never  see  any 
body, —  unless  —  unless  —  it  were  somebody  slying 
around  trying  to  buy  Great  Oaks."  Mr.  Hartaoous 
paused  reflectively.  He  was  essentially  a  business 
man,  and  could  have  succeeded  signally  in  any  line 

402 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

to  which  he  had  devoted  his  energies ;  he  was  now 
unconsciously  showing  great  capacities  to  conduct  a 
matrimonial  agency.  He  let  off  a  slow,  meditative 
whiff  of  smoke,  holding  his  cigar  in  one  hand  as  he 
looked  speculatively  at  the  ceiling.  "I  wonder — I 
do  wonder  —  whether  Loring  might  not  fill  the  bill! 
What  a  solution  of  the  problem  it  would  be,  if  we 
could  capture  Loring  !  " 

"  We  don't  want  him/'  said  Desmond,  in  evident 
repugnance. 

"  Why  not?"  Mr.  Hartagous  bent  his  brows  in  a 
cogitating  frown  as  he  surveyed  the  tutor.  "  Loring 
is  a  very  worthy,  honorable  man,  and  agreeable,  apart 
from  his  money,  —  and  Mrs.  Faurie  will  have  abso 
lutely  nothing.  He  is  a  very  brainy  man,  and  of  excel 
lent  moral  character.  I  should  think  he  could  make 
himself  very  acceptable.  You  think  that  Mrs.  Faurie 
would  not  marry  him  ?  " 

"  I  know  she  would  not.  In  fact,  Mrs.  Faurie  has 
promised  to  marry  me,"  Desmond  said  succinctly. 

In  the  scope  of  humane  protection  there  ought  to 
be  some  restraint  on  the  administration  of  sudden 
shocks.  The  jerk,  mental  and  moral,  which  Mr.  Har 
tagous  experienced  was  as  if  a  galvanic  current  had 
thrilled  through  every  sensibility.  Even  his  physique 
was  not  exempt.  As  his  hand  on  the  arm  of  the  chair 
mechanically  flew  up,  it  struck  his  cigar  between  his 
lips  with  such  force  as  to  break  it  in  half,  so  that 
it  hung  bent  at  right  angles  in  his  mouth  as  he  sat 
upright  and  stared  at  the  tutor. 

Desmond  wondered  that  he  should  have  no  qualms 

403 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

of  conscience  in  thus  interposing  an  insurmountable 
obstacle  to  the  fair  haven  to  which  Mr.  Hartagous 
was  desirous  of  steering  Mrs.  Faurie's  future.  But  he 
only  felt  elated,  delighted,  triumphant.  He  did  not 
even  resent  the  indignant  remonstrance,  deprecation, 
amazement,  in  the  executor's  face. 

"  Did  she  intend  really/'  he  demanded,  in  a  low, 
tense,  excited  voice, "  to  relinquish  her  fine  income  dur 
ing  widowhood,  —  under  the  will,  —  for  merely  what 
amounts  to  her  statute  rights  of  dower  —  and  you  ?  " 

The  tutor  laughed  aloud,  so  joyously,  in  such  gay 
elation,  that  Worldly  Wisdom  could  but  bend  its  brows 
anew.  "  She  never  had  the  opportunity.  I  could  not, 
I  would  not,  ask  her  to  relinquish  anything  for  me. 
It  was  only  when  she  had  nothing  to  lose  that  I  of 
fered  my  heart  and  hand,  —  only  this  evening,  in 
fact." 

Mr.  Hai'ta^ous  leaned  forward,  the  bent  cigar  still 

O  '  O 

between  his  lips,  to  survey  the  young  man  who,  hold 
ing  his  own  cigar  between  his  finger-tips,  lightly 
touched  off  the  ash  and  smilingly  returned  the  men 
tor's  look.  He  still  smiled  in  imperturbable  good- 
humor  when  Mr.  Hartagous  ejaculated,  as  if  invol 
untarily,  from  the  depths  of  his  conviction  :  "  You  — 
poor — fool!" 

"  Thank  you  very  much,"  cried  Desmond,  in  airy 
nonchalance. 

"  My  dear  boy,  she  is  ten  years  older  than  you  —  " 
"And  she  looks  ten  years  younger,  —  but  that  is 
neither  here  nor  there.  I   am   not  marrying  her  for 
her  beauty  any  more  than  for  her  money." 

404 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

"  Certainly  not  for  that/'  said  Mr.  Hartagous, 
sourly.  "  But  Mrs.  Faurie's  friends  will  never  consent 
to  this ;  it  would  make  her  ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world." 

"  If  I  may  judge  by  what  I  have  learned  in  my 
own  experience  of  friendship,  as  this  world  goes, 
Mrs.  Faurie's  friends  will  let  her  very  severely  alone 
as  soon  as  they  are  informed  of  the  state  of  her  ex 
chequer.  As  to  ridicule,  —  just  as  it  happens,  we  do 
riot  care  in  the  least  for  that." 

"But  you  must  consider  her  sons, — the  very 
children  will  protest." 

"  And  they  alone  have  the  right,"  Desmond  ad 
mitted.  And  Mr.  Harta^ous  made  a  mental  note  to 

o 

be  early  at  their  ear  with  crafty  counsel. 

He  again  hesitated  for  a  moment,  with  the  bent 
cigar  now  in  his  hand.  "I  know  that  you  will  not 
thank  me  for  my  interference,"  he  said  gravely,  "  but 
as  a  mutual  friend,  —  yours  as  well  as  Mrs.  Faurie's, 
—  a  friend  of  the  family,  indeed,  I  must  remind 
you  of  your  financial  position.  You  know  that  it  was 
difficult  to  find  foothold  for  yourself, — how  can 
you  support  an  additional  burden?  I  should  be  glad 
to  advise  Keith  to  continue  you  in  your  present  em 
ployment —  " 

"  I  am  beholden  to  you ! "  laughed  Desmond. 

"But  your  common  sense  must  show  you  that  it 
would  be  untenable,  unsuitable.  You  know  that  the 
learned  professions  are  not  paid  in  proportion  to  the 
equipment  required  and  the  talent  employed.  They 
ought  to  be  —  and,  in  fact,  they  generally  are  — 

405 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

filled  by  men  who  could  at  a  pinch  live  by  other 
resources.  But  what  would  you  do  if  you  should  find 
no  other  opportunity?" 

"  Snap  my  fingers  in  the  faces  of  the  Nine  Muses 
and  come  down  from  Olympus  !  I  would  do  whatever 
fell  to  my  hand.  I  would  not  now  be  so  choice,  so 
exacting,  so  determined  on  pursuing  the  course  that 
I  had  laid  out.  If  '  letters '  are  not  for  me,  then  I  am 
not  for  '  letters.'  I  will  work  at  anything.  I  will  dig 
in  a  ditch.  I  will  turn  wood-chopper.  I  will  'run  the 


river/ 


"  You  will  make  a  success  of  whatever  you  turn 
your  hand  to;  but  'run  the  river'  —  I  hope  you  ain't 
talkin'  of  leavin'  us,  Mr.  Desmond."  Bainbridge's 
rough  voice  broke  suddenly  on  the  colloquy,  as  he 
entered,  hearing  only  the  last  words.  "  I  don't  know 
how  we  would  get  on  at  Great  Oaks  without  you  now." 
Then,  bethinking  himself  of  his  own  insecure  tenure 
of  office,  his  face  clouded  and  his  voice  fell.  "  Well, 
gents,"  he  continued,  after  a  pause,  "  I  have  got  old 
Mr.  Stanlett  resting  easy, and  I  believe  I'll  finish  out 
my  yerrand  here  and  take  myself  home.  Mr.  Des 
mond,  do  you  know  if  there  was  any  of  them  sticks 
o'  giant  powder  left  here  at  the  house  after  we  blasted 
that  last  tangle  ?  "  For  a  recent  development  of  the 
dangers  of  the  overflow  was  the  approach  of  floating 
debris  dislodged  from  the  inundated  forests  above, 
now  merely  drift  logs,  and  again  gigantic  trees,  long 
since  dead  and  easily  overblown  in  the  high  winds 
that  had  latterly  prevailed.  Sometimes  they  came 
slowly  slipping  along  the  sluggish  flood  of  the  back 

406 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

waters,  sometimes  swiftly  hurtling,  as  if  flung  from  a 
catapult,  down  the  impetuous  currents  of  the  mid- 
channel  of  the  great  river.  Now  they  appeared  singly, 
and  again  entangled  with  other  growths;  and  these 
fibrous  masses,  difficult  of  disintegration,  offered  a 
menace  in  collision  with  boats  or  buildings,  which 
required  all  the  ingenuity  of  the  skilled  in  "fighting 
water"  to  ward  off.  To  climb  upon  the  floating  tree, 
insert  a  dynamite  cartridge  in  some  convenient  hol 
low,  and  speed  off  as  fast  as  dugout  might  skim  and 
paddle  ply  before  the  explosion  rent  the  floating 
mass  asunder,  setting  it  adrift  in  hundreds  of  harm 
less  fragments,  had  been  found  an  effective  measure, 
though  not  without  dangers  of  its  own. 

Desmond  said  that  he  had  reserved  a  few  cartridges, 
which  he  had  deposited  in  an  out-of-the-way  place 
for  safety.  He  laid  his  cigar  on  the  edge  of  the  ash 
tray  on  the  library  table,  searched  one  of  the  drawers 
for  a  key,  and  as  he  left  the  room,  he  remarked  that 
dynamite  was  a  commodity  with  which  Mr.  Bain- 
bridge  could  not  be  too  careful. 

"I  ain't  going  to  set  down  on  it, you  can  bet  high 
on  that!"  the  manager  observed,  with  the  kind  of 
laugh  attributed  to  the  horse,  with  less  than  fair  ap 
preciation  of  equine  manners.  He  slouched  across  the 
room  in  the  big  boots  which  he  had  resumed,  having 
drawn  them  over  his  trousers  to  the  knee  according 
to  his  wont.  His  big  hat  was  on  the  back  of  his  straw- 
tinted  hair,  for  since  Mrs.  Faurie  was  not  present,  he 
recognized  no  etiquette  which  required  him  to  re 
move  it,  and  he  habitually  wore  it  indoors ;  he  sunk 

407 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

into  a  large  chair  of  the  reclining  variety,  furnished 
with  a  shelf  at  the  side,  which  was  available,  turning 
on  a  pivot,  for  either  book-rest  or  writing-desk.  As 
he  quietly  waited,  he  began  to  eye  Mr.  Hartagous 
and  his  bent  cigar,  which  was  past  all  surgery.  The 
lawyer  discarded  it  into  the  smoking-tray,  and  spoke 
to  avoid  a  question  concerning  it,  for  he  realized  that 
Mr.  Bainbridge's  curiosity  was  unrestricted  and  his 
tact  slight. 

"They  have  made  great  changes  here,  Mr.  Bain- 
bridge,"  he  said,  glancing  about  the  room, — "and 
yet  there  is  no  especial  difference  when  you  come  to 
examine, — a  mere  matter  of  rearrangement." 

"Yes,  sir,  —  yes,  sir.  The  kids  recite  here  now. 
But  Mr.  Desmond  has  a  way  of  putting  his  mark  on 
things.  This  room  reminds  me  only  of  him  now,  yet  I 
can  remember  a  time  when  it  was  as  good  as  a  photo 
of  Mr.  Faurie.  He  died  here,  you  know,  —  and  if  I 
don't  forgit,  it  was  in  this  very  chair." 

"  Yes,  yes,  —  of  heart  failure.  Yes,  —  a  good  while 
ago,"  Mr.  Hartagous  replied,  and  fell  silent. 

The  whole  house  had  become  silent,  too,  once  more. 
If  Desmond  were  astir  in  his  search  for  the  stick  of 
dynamite,  it  was  at  a  distance  in  the  rambling  old 
building,  for  there  was  no  token  of  movement  far  or 
near.  The  clock  on  the  mantelpiece  was  bringing  the 
minute  hand  into  occultation  by  the  hour  hand  on  the 
dial,  and  the  silver  tale  of  midnight  presently  rang 
out.  The  single  log  across  the  andirons,  for  it  had 
been  a  bright  fire  rather  than  a  great  one,  had  charred 
through  by  the  heat  of  the  day's  embers  below  and 

408 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

presently  fell  apart,  sending  up  jets  of  sparks  and 
tendrils  of  pungent  smoke.  Mr  Bainbridge  rose  and 
nimbly  kicked  the  ends  together  between  the  dogs, 
and  as  the  flames  of  the  dry  wood  flared  up  cheerily, 
he  returned  to  his  seat,  and  seemed  disposed  to  mor 
alize  and  favor  Mr.  Hartagous  with  his  views  on  the 
mutation  of  sublunary  affairs.  "But  I  useter  never 
come  in  this  room  but  what  I  could  fairly  pictur' 
Mr.  Faurie  sittin'  in  this  very  chair.  Lord!  what  a 
power  o'  pains  he  did  give  himself  about  that  will  o' 
his  and  all  his  papers,  Mr.  Hartagous.  And  to  think ! 
it 's  all  turned  out  as  he  would  have  liked  least.  Not 
that  I  blame  you,  sir." 

"No,  of  course  not,"  acceded  Mr.  Hartagous, 
promptly,  conscious  that  his  position  did  not  commend 
itself  to  the  manager's  favor. 

"Being  the  executor,  you  have  to  do  as  the  law  re 
quires.  But  little  did  he  think  that  he  was  leaving  his 
pretty  young  wife  a  share  of — river  fog,  to  live  off  'n 
all  her  days  ;  no  wonder  it 's  turned  old  Mr.  Stanlett's 
brain!  She  has  been  like  a  daughter  to  him.  Well, 
well, — I  don't  wonder  that  he  thought  he  viewed 
Mr.  Faurie  up  there  amongst  the  old  papers  in  the 
blue  room.  Mr.  Faurie  lived  amongst  his  papers  those 
few  last  weeks,  —  every  lease,  every  lien,  every  mort 
gage,  every  promissory  note,  was  examined  in  expec 
tation  of  the  administration  of  his  estate.  I  useter 
look  at  him  and  wonder  how  he  had  the  grit  to  fix 
and  fix  his  papers  when  he  war  n't  able  to  work,  so 
feeble  as  he  was.  He'd  send  for  me  as  a  subscribing 
witness  in  leases,  and  contracts,  and  such,  —  me  and 

409 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPI  AN 

the  trained  nurse ;  we  witnessed  a  power  o'  papers  in 
those  last  days.  They  mostly  seemed  short,  —  little 
matters  hereabouts.  The  important  papers  had  been 
packed  and  sent  to  you  in  Memphis  by  that  time; 
but  these  were  some  renewals  he  had  promised,  and 
he  canceled  some  obligations  he  held.  Mr.  Faurie  was 
not  what  a  body  would  call  a  liberal  man, — he  was 
rather  strict :  but  he  executed  a  release  for  old  man 
Tynes,  whose  debt  wasn't  more  than  half  paid  out, 
and  who  was  likely  to  ha'  been  sold  up;  and  he  give 
a  quittance  to  old  Sloper ;  and  he  acknowledged  a 
quitclaim  deed  on  that  tract  o'  swampy  woodland  that 
that  Irish  wood-chopper  Jessop  had  n't  paid  scarcely 
any  purchase  money  on  —  't  ain't  worth  much,  but 
'twas  riches  to  old  Axe-helve;  and  he  relinquished 
his  rights  in  that  steamboat,  the  Swamp  Lily,  to 
Captain  Cleek,  for  old  acquaintance'  sake;  and  he 
remembered  the  old  niggers  variously ;  and  he  gimme 
my  mule  Lucy,  finest  mare  mule  I  ever  see,  as  good 
to-day  as  she  was  then,  and  two  hundred  dollars  in 
gold  in  a  bag,  —  but  he  didn't  care  to  stand  for 
liberal.  He  would  n't  ha'  put  such  little  extras  into 
his  will  for  the  public  to  know  —  indeed,  no,  —  not 
for  a  pretty !  He  just  settled  his  gifts  beforehand. 
And  every  paper  was  just  so !  —  and  they  all  held  to 
gether  as  tight  as  hell,  except  that  will  that  he  cared 
for  more  than  all  the  rest.  Things  turn  out  cur'ous, 
they  do,  —  for  a  fact!"  Bainbridge  shook  his  head 
drearily,  and  looked  reflectively  into  the  fire.  Great 
Oaks  Plantation  had  been  home  to  him  for  many  a 
year,  and  he  was  a  man  of  scanty  resources  and  narrow 

410 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

experience.  He  knew  naught  of  the  world  beyond, 
and  he  deprecated  change. 

"  Of  course  I  did  n't  know  the  contents  of  the  pa 
pers  then,"  he  presently  resumed  his  reminiscences. 
"I  just  heard  about  what  they  were  in  the  gossip 
after  his  death,  and  in  fact  a  good  many  were  put 
on  record  in  the  court-house  right  away.  I  was  n't  ex 
pected  to  read  'em  when  he  executed  them.  All  I  did 
was  to  witness  his  signature."  With  his  unemployed 
hands  he  drew  before  him  the  writing-shelf  attached 
to  the  arm  of  the  chair  and  took  the  position  of  the 
scribe  as  he  meditated,  drumming  slightly  on  the  wood 
with  his  fingers,  that  showed  in  their  blunt,  roughened 
tips  and  broken  nails  the  hand  of  the  toiler.  "  Mr. 
Faurie  was  a  proud  man,"  he  discriminated.  "He 
didn't  openly  admit  that  death  itself  could  down  him. 
He  only  used  to  remark, '  No  man  can  say  that  he  will 
be  here  to-morrow,  so  I  am  setting  some  pressing  af 
fairs  in  order.'  He  said  that  to  me  on  that  last  night, 
just  about  a  half  hour  before  he  died.  Why,  I  had  n't 
got  home, —  I  was  riding  one  of  his  horses,  —  do  you 
remember  Indian  Chief,  and  how  fast  he  could  rack? 
—  I  had  n't  reached  the  willow  slough  when  I  saw  the 
rocket  go  up  at  the  landing  to  signal  the  Swamp  Lily 
as  she  passed  to  stop  and  take  on  the  orders  for  the 
funeral,  you  know." 

"  Yes,  —  oh,  yes,"  said  Mr.  Hartagous,  hastily, 
reminded  of  ghastly  details.  It  was  not  a  cheering 
subject ;  he  had  had  a  troublous  day ;  he  had  been 
awaiting  Desmond's  return  that  he  might  have  an 
additional  word  with  him  in  continuance  of  the  discus- 

411 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

sion  so  suddenly  sprung  upon  him ;  but  the  tutor  was 
long  away,  scarcely  sustaining  his  reputation  for  rum 
maging.  The  lawyer  was  about  to  comment  with 
acerbity  on  the  delay,  for  he  felt  the  need  of  his  well- 
earned  night's  rest,  when  he  was  struck  by  the  fidelity 
of  the  mimicry  of  voice  and  manner  with  which  the 
manager  was  reproducing  the  scene  so  often  enacted 
here,  so  replete  with  significance  to  all  those  whom 
these  signatures  concerned.  " '  Witness  my  hand  and 
seal, — witness  my  hand  and  seal,'  "  he  repeated  more 
than  once.  Then,  with  an  imperative  intonation, 
"  '  Attest,  Jeremiah  Bainbridge.  Sign  here.' ' 

He  glanced  up  with  a  mirthless  laugh,  and  as  he 
thrust  the  shelf  away  from  him  the  elastic  strap  of  a 
portfolio,  attached  on  the  under  side,  gave  way  in  his 
rough  handling  and  a  flutter  of  papers  slid  from  the 
receptacle  to  the  floor. 

"  Look  at  me !  "  exclaimed  Bainbridge,  in  contri 
tion  for  the  mischance.  "  What's  these?  —  the  kids' 
exercises."  He  read  aloud  in  a  droning  voice  :  "  '  And 
when  King  Xerxes  marched  to  the  north  he  left'  — 
a  heap  of  confusion  behind  him,  I  reckon  !  "  he  re 
marked  facetiously,  gathering  up  the  flying  pages  of 
writing,  inscribed  in  a  large,  boyish  hand,  stopping  now 
and  again  to  peruse  quizzically  the  inapposite  theme 
with  a  sort  of  relish  of  its  incongruity  with  the  scene, 
the  life,  and  the  thought  of  to-day. 

Mr.  Hartagous  lent  his  aid.  The  accident  was  of 
a  kind  peculiarly  irritating  to  his  prepossessions,  and 
to  his  mind  suggested  the  bull  in  the  china  shop.  He 
was  less  animated,  however,  by  the  desire  to  help  the 

412  " 


THE  FAIR  Mi  SSISSIPPI  AN 

worthy  manager  than  to  remove  the  debris  and  obvi 
ate  thus  any  difficulty  which  might  otherwise  prevent 
Mr.  Bainbridge  f  rom  getting  himself  away  immediately 
upon  the  return  of  Desmond  with  the  stick  of  dyna 
mite  ;  Mr.  Hartagous  was  capable  of  wishing  that  this 
might  blow  the  manager  into  the  Mississippi  River, 
were  there  no  other  method  of  compassing  his  speedy 
withdrawal.  To  preserve  the  juvenile  work  from  de 
struction,  since  several  pages  had  flown  within  the 
big  brass  fender,  he  reached  over  it  and  secured  them 
from  the  hearth.  Then,  seating  himself  in  the  chair 
just  vacated  by  Bainbridge,  who  was  now  occupied 
in  seeking  fugitive  papers  under  the  table,  the  sofa, 
the  globes,  Mr.  Hartagous  addressed  himself  to  re 
placing  the  pages  in  the  portfolio. 

An  awkward,  old-fashioned  device  of  desk  arrange 
ment,  he  thought  it,  for  the  portfolio  attached  to  the 
shelf  swung  beneath,  leaving  the  upper  surface  free 
for  the  writer's  needs,  and  it  could  only  be  drawn  high 
enough  to  receive  or  disburse  papers  by  means  of  the 
elastic  strap  which  Bainbridge  had  burst.  It  now 
showed  signs  of  letting  the  pages  slip  as  soon  as  re 
stored;  and  saying  with  a  note  of  tense  vexation, 
"  Where  did  these  belong,  anyhow? — and  how  the 
devil  does  this  go?"  Mr.  Hartagous  drew  the  de 
spoiled  receptacle  up  on  top  of  the  shelf  to  aid  his 
disposition  of  the  collected  sheets.  As  in  most  portfo 
lios,  the  two  gaping  pockets  were  obvious,  but  as  he 
was  about  to  stow  the  remaining  briefs  concerning 
the  Persian  hero  therein,  another  paper  from  an  inner 
slit  in  a  different  handwriting  was  brought  to  view. 

413 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

His  face  changed  sharply  as  he  drew  it  forth,  all  un 
noticed  by  Mr.  Bainbridge,  laughing  over  the  crude 
views  of  the  boy's  work  as  he  held  a  page  to  the  lamp 
on  the  table,  his  big  teeth  a-glimmer  in  the  midst  of  his 
straw-tinted  beard,  the  big  hat  and  broad  shoulders 
thrown  in  a  Brobdingnagian  shadow  on  the  wall. 

"  Will  you  give  me  your  attention  for  a  moment, 
sir,"  Mr.  Hartagous  said,  in  a  low,  repressed  voice. 
"  Is  this  your  signature  ?  " 

Bainbridge  lumbered  heavily  forward  in  startled 
expectation.  "  By  gum,  it  sure  is  !  "  he  cried,  excited 
to  fever  heat.  "  And  that  is  the  last  paper  which  Mr. 
Faurie  ever  signed  !  "  he  added,  leaning  over  to  scan 
the  document.  "  I  am  sure  of  that,  because  Mr. 
Dabney  witnessed  it  with  me,  —  't  was  me  and  the 
trained  nurse  that  always  subscribed  as  witnesses  to 
gether,  except  this  once.  And  just  before  I  reached 
the  willow  slough  I  seen  the  rocket  go  up  at  the  land 
ing  to  signal  the  death  to  the  Swamp  Lily,  that  was 
just  rounding  the  point  off  the  Arkansas  shore." 

There  were  a  few  other  papers  with  the  document, 
a  canceled  note  of  hand,  a  contract  for  the  erection 
of  buildings,  a  surveyor's  plat  of  land,  all  memoranda 
of  completed  purpose,  which  had  evidently  been  re 
turned.  Mr.  Hartagous  was  running  them  swiftly  over, 
while  Bainbridge's  attention  was  focused  upon  his 
own  scrawl  as  a  subscribing  witness  on  the  sheet  on 
the  portfolio. 

"  I  never  thought  of  it  again,"  Bainbridge  resumed ; 
"and  I  suppose  that  whoever  set  the  room  to  rights 
after  he  was  carried  out  of  it  must  have  laid  this  away 

414 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

among  the  other  papers  in  the  portfolio  and  desk. 
He  must  have  intended  to  mail  it  with  other  inclos- 
ures, —  that  will  that  Mr.  Stanlett  found,  I  reckon, 
—  for  see,  here  is  a  long,  stamped  envelope,  with 
six  cents  postage  and  an  immejet  delivery  stamp." 
Bainbridge  held  it  up  to  the  light.  "  He  must  have 
weighed  it  with  the  inclosures, — but  it  has  got  no 
address.  I  remember  now  that  after  Mr.  Dabney  and 
I  had  said  good-night  to  him  and  went  out  into  the 
hall,  I  noticed  the  nigger  waiting  at  the  library  door, 
with  the  bag  for  Mr.  Faurie's  mail,  ready  to  paddle 
in  a  dugout  to  the  Swamp  Lily  just  sighted  nigh  the 
point  off  the  Arkansas  shore." 

Mr.  Hartagous  was  once  more  bending  his  bushy 
brows  over  the  names  of  the  witnesses  to  the  docu 
ment.  "  And  who  is  this  other  party  ?  "  he  asked. 

"Mr.  Dabney?  Richard  Dabney?  —  why,  don't 
you  remember  him  ?  He  used  to  run  a  store  near 
Great  Oaks.  The  land  it  was  built  on  fell  into  the 
river  not  long  after  that,  and  he  moved  away.  He 
was  living  in  Arkansas  the  last  I  heard  of  him, 
running  a  sawmill.  He  had  come  to  Great  Oaks  man 
sion  that  evening  to  inquire  for  Mr.  Faurie,  hearing 
that  he  had  been  ailing,  —  in  fact,  he  was  taken  with 
a  short  rigor  while  Mr.  Dabney  was  here.  Mr.  Faurie 
was  still  sitting  in  this  chair  when  he  wrote  his  name, 
which  he  did  easily  enough,  but  he  seemed  very  faint 
when  he  called  upon  us  to  witness  his  signature,  and 
pronounced  the  paper  a  little  —  little  coddle-shell,  I 
think  he  called  it,  to  his  will.  I  never  thought  of  it 
since.  I  jus'  allowed  it  was  some  of  his  Tennessee 

415 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

business,  because  be  remarked  sorter  mumbling  to 
himself,  't  was  situated  tbere  and  tbat  he  s'posed  this 
coddle-shell  would  take  effect  under  the  laws  there,  it 
being  his  domicile,  so  to  say,  him  being  a  resident  o' 
Nashville,  and  a  regularly  qualified  voter  of  David 
son  County,  —  though  shucks!  we  claimed  him  here 
in  the  swamp  country;  he  had  been  here  so  much  at 
Great  Oaks  in  the  winters,  as  his  health  declined.  I 
have  n't  thought  of  it  since.  As  he  was  always  busy 
with  his  papers  in  them  days,  I  did  n't  taken  any  spe 
cial  notice  of  the  circumstance.  Is  it  any  account, 
particularly,  —  cut  any  ice  ?  " 

A  codicil,  indeed,  it  proved  ;  and  while  affirming 
and  republishing  the  main  testamentary  provisions  of 
the  previous  codicil,  the  testator  made  the  single 
change  of  giving  to  his  widow  all  his  personal  pro 
perty  of  whatever  sort,  —  in  lieu  of  one  fourth  of  it, — 
stocks,  bonds,  and  some  hoards  of  special  deposits 
in  Tennessee  banks ;  and  though  the  vital  importance 
of  this  bequest  was  altogether  unforeseen  by  the  dy 
ing  man,  the  crucial  emergency  being  far  beyond  the 
purview  of  his  vicarious  precautions,  it  was  evident 
that  it  would  aggregate  enough  to  solve  the  refunding 
problem  of  Mrs.  Faurie's  receipts  from  the  estate. 


CHAPTER  XX 

J_T  was  a  joyous  household  the  next  morning,  and  Mr. 
Hartagous  genially  participated  in  the  prevailing  good 
cheer.  He  had  very  heartily  deprecated  the  hardships 
to  be  wrought  by  the  execution  of  his  duty,  and  was 
thankful  indeed  that  they  were  mitigated  to  the  extent 
of  the  benefactions  of  this  codicil.  Great  Oaks  under 
water,  with  valuable  machinery  and  livestock,  miles 
of  fencing  and  indispensable  buildings,  to  replace,  was 
no  boon  in  comparison  with  Mrs.  Faurie's  former  rich 
endowments,  but  at  all  events  it  was  not  to  fall  to  his 
lot  to  turn  the  widow  out  of  her  shelter  for  the  be 
hoof  of  her  young  sons.  Nevertheless,  he  resolved  to 
remonstrate  very  seriously  with  her  against  the  pro 
posed  marriage,  and  to  stint  himself  no  whit  in  force 
ful  phraseology. 

He  did  not  meet  her  at  the  breakfast-table,  for  he 
was  late,  owing  to  the  vigils  of  the  preceding  night, 
and  when  he  presented  himself  to  partake  of  the  matu 
tinal  meal,  he  found  that  she  had  already  departed, 
leaving  him  to  the  vicarious  hospitality  of  Desmond, 
the  jubilant  Mr.  Stanlett,  and  the  three  boys  witb 
their  shining  morning  faces.  He  fortified  himself 
with  a  good  cigar  after  breakfast  and  a  meditative 
stroll  upon  the  veranda  in  the  fresh,  breezy,  summery 
day,  intending  that  his  nerves  should  be  well  soothed 
and  his  tact  whetted  before  he  should  enter  upon  his 
delicate  mission. 

417 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPI  AN 

The  leafage  of  the  wide-spreading  grove  was  green 
and  lush,  and  waved  gilded  in  the  sunlight;  hanging 
baskets,  with  trailing  ferns  and  laden  with  parti-colored 
foliage  plants,  swung  in  the  arches  between  the  vine- 
draped  columns  of  the  veranda.  If  one  could  imagine 
one's  self  afloat,  or  in  some  Venetian  entourage,  the 
diluvian  scene  might  have  seemed,  instead  of  the 
dreariest  expression  of  disaster,  to  have  elements  of 
picturesque  amphibious  interest.  What  though  the 
Arkansas  shore  were  withdrawn  from  view  —  there 
was  not  much  of  it  visible  in  its  best  estate  ! — and  in 
stead  was  an  expanse  of  rippling  sunlit  sea  of  indefinite 
bounds,  of  a  richly  tawny  hue,  and  with  enlivening 
and  unique  incidents,  —  a  couple  of  gayly  whisking 
dugouts  in  the  foreground,  a  steamboat  in  the  mid 
dle  distance,  puffing  columns  of  curling  smoke  as  in 
the  centre  of  the  channel  she  steadily  climbed  the 
current,  and  in  the  offing  a  white  flash  of  sea-gulls, 
describing  eccentric  curves,  brilliant  as  stars  against 
the  depressed  horizon,  blue  and  hazy  and  dimly  dis 
criminated.  There  was  an  absence  of  briny  odors, 
which  are  not  always  acceptable,  however,  and  instead 
a  pungent  fragrance  of  bark  came  from  the  inundated 
woods,  and  the  honeysuckle  twining  about  the  balus 
trade  and  bravely  blooming  from  out  the  floods  sent 
forth  a  subtile  and  delicious  perfume. 

" '  A  life  on  the  ocean  wave/  "  Mrs.  Faurie  exclaimed 
joyously,  as  he  turned  a  corner  and  came  suddenly 
upon  her.  She  had  been  rifling  a  wire  flower-stand 
that  lifted  its  redundant  growths  against  the  wall  of 
the  house,  and  she  held  in  her  hand  a  cluster  of  pink 

418 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIP.PIAN 

and  white  carnations.  As  she  stood  in  the  blended 
sheen  of  the  bland  day  and  the  refulgent  reflection 
of  the  blazing  waters,  she  looked  not  unlike  the  bloom 
itself.  She  had  upon  her  head  a  wide  hat  of  delicate 
pink  organdy,  the  brim  variously  bent  and  shirred  and 
frilled,  and  her  morning  dress  was  of  sheer  white  lawn. 
He  strove  within  himself  to  avoid  its  recognition  as 
the  simplest  toilet,  such  as  any  country  girl  might 
wear,  for  she  took  no  grace  from  it,  but  embellished 
its  every  suggestion.  Her  slim,  lissome  figure  lent  it 
such  distinction ;  the  exquisite  fairness  of  her  com 
plexion  was  so  emphasized  by  the  unrelenting  clarity 
of  the  tints  of  her  costume ;  the  shoaling  lights  and 
shadows  of  her  beautiful  gray  eyes,  her  rich  brown 
hair  piled  high  amongst  the  carnation-like  frills  of  the 
hat,  her  delicate  dewy  lips,  her  dainty  hand  and  arm 
and  throat,  all  were  more  assertive  in  their  demand  for 
homage  in  the  simple  not  to  say  stereotyped  attire. 
And  she  looked  scarcely  twenty  years  old,  as  her 
laughing,  long-lashed  eyes  met  his. 

"  Can  you  keep  your  sea-legs  in  the  contemplation 
of  that  weltering  main?" — she  glanced  at  the  water 
scape.  "  Will  you  feel  less  as  if  in  an  indigestible 
dream  and  more  like  a  landlubber  if  I  give  you  a 
boutonniere  ?  "  She  selected  a  very  perfect  carnation 
from  the  cluster,  and  as  she  advanced  to  place  it  in 
the  buttonhole  of  his  coat,  he  caught  her  hand  with 
the  flower  in  it. 

"  I  want  to  say  something  very  serious  to  you,"  he 
protested.  "  I  want  to  speak  as  freely  to  you  as  if 
you  were  my  daughter." 

419 


THE   FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

She  glanced  up,  gayly  laughing.  "  Your  sister,  you 
should  say." 

He  perceived  his  error,  —  on  the  very  point  of  age, 
which  was  to  be  the  gravamen  of  his  remonstrances ! 
But  he  had  unconsciously  been  allured  by  her  aspect, 
—  as  she  looked  scarcely  twenty. 

"  Well,  hardly  young  enough  to  be  my  daughter, 
indeed,"  he  said  craftily,  "  though  Desmond  is  really 
young  enough  to  be  my  son.  My  dear  madam,  you 
will  make  yourself  a  laughing-stock  if  you  contem 
plate  this  marriage.  You  ought  to  remember  that  you 
are  ten  years  older  than  this  boy." 

"  Should  I  mind  that  if  he  does  not?"  she  queried, 
holding  up  the  cluster  of  carnations  no  fresher  than 
the  flush  in  her  cheeks. 

"  And  now  that,  by  the  grace  of  God,  you  are  to 
have  Great  Oaks  unincumbered,  you  will  put  him  into 
the  position  of  making  a  mercenary  marriage ;  he  is 
sensitive  on  that  score, — I  can  see  that  already, — 
though  of  course  he  is  glad  that  your  future  comfort 
is  assured,  however  meagrely  in  comparison  with  the 
old  days." 

"  But  ought  we  to  consider  the  public,  —  if  it  will 
accord  us  so  much  distinction  as  to  gossip  about  us  as 
a  nine  days'  wonder, —  or  only  ourselves,  and  our  own 
mutual  happiness?"  She  slipped  the  carnation  into 
his  buttonhole  and  drew  off,  standing  in  her  graceful 
slimness,  her  head  aslant,  to  observe  the  effect. 

"  Ridicule  deals  a  vicarious  stab,  which  is  peculiarly 
sharp.  You  should  consider  your  children,  dear  Mrs. 
Faurie,"  he  urged. 

420 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

"  And  I  will,"  she  promised  heartily.  "  Trust  me 
for  that !  I  will  do  nothing  contrary  to  their  wishes." 

He  made  no  secret  of  his  intentions.  He  turned  at 
once.  She  stood  looking  after  him,  smiling  at  his 
haste,  as  he  went  bustling  down  the  veranda  to  find 
the  boys.  His  method  of  busy  progression  was  not 
unlike  that  of  the  puffing  steamboat  in  the  channel, 
bustling  up  the  river.  Though  he  had  no  fear  of  her 
interference  or  adverse  influence,  he  was  so  impressed 
with  the  importance  of  his  mission  to  enlist  some  potent 
opposition  to  the  marriage  that  he  made  no  effort 
to  enliven  the  seriousness  of  the  crisis  with  jocose 
preamble,  in  view  of  the  juvenile  character  of  his 
interlocutors,  or  to  minimize  its  significance.  In  logical 
and  definite  fashion  he  set  forth  the  fact  and  its 
aspect  to  the  world  at  large,  with  its  effect  on  their 
mother's  future  and  their  own,  in  very  unvarnished 
phrase.  They  silently  heard  him  out,  seated  before 
him  in  a  row  on  the  sofa  in  the  front  parlor,  very 
attentive,  and  with  more  friendly  faces  than  he  had 
heretofore  seen  them  wear. 

"  It  rests  with  you  three,"  he  said  in  conclusion, 
seeking  to  impress  them  with  a  sense  of  their  respon 
sibility.  "  Your  mother  cares  more  for  you  than  she 
ever  did  or  ever  will  for  any  man.  She  is  the  most 
maternal  woman  I  ever  knew.  You  can  prevent  her 
from  making  a  ridiculous  marriage,  —  a  foolish  mar 
riage,  —  a  disastrous  marriage,  that  will  bring  un- 
happiness  upon  everybody  connected  with  it." 

"  Oh,  no  !  Mr.  Hartagous  ! "  promptly  responded 
the  rosy  and  beaming  Chub,  taking  the  pas,  perhaps 

421 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

instinctively  on  the  principle  that  the  youngest  officer 
on  a  court-martial  speaks  first.  "  It  is  the  very  best 
thing  that  we  can  do.  Ever  since  I  have  found  out 
that  Mr.  Desmond  was  going  to  marry  us,  I  have  felt 
that  we-all  were  so  safe !  "  He  gave  himself  an  affec 
tionate  little  hug  to  express  his  sense  of  security. 

Horace  administered  a  rude  nudge  with  his  elbow. 
"  Nobody  is  going  to  marry  you  !  "  he  admonished  his 
junior,  shamefaced  for  the  ignorance  he  manifested. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  protested  Chub,  wagging  his  round 
head,  evidently  having  mastered  the  situation ;  "  when 
a  gentleman  marries  a  widow  lady,  he  marries  the 
whole  family ! " 

"  You  certainly  have  an  interest  to  consider,"  said 
Mr.  Hartagous,  gravely.  "  Your  affection  for  your 
mother,  your  respect  for  your  father,  ought  to  urge 
you  to  a  course  of  discreet  remonstrance,  —  nothing 
unfilial,  or  likely  to  estrange  you,  but  to  prevent  an 
absurd  and  most  unseemly  marriage  that  must  neces 
sarily  be,  too,  unhappy  and  unfortunate." 

"I  don't  see  it  in  that  light,  Mr.  Hartagous,"  said 
Horace,  slowly.  His  face  had  an  intimation  of  preco 
cious  force,  and  there  was  even  a  mutinous  spark  in 
the  glance  of  his  eye.  His  was  the  complex  and  diffi 
cult  disposition  of  the  three  brothers.  His  convictions 
were  obviously  strong,  and  his  opposition  likely  to 
be  of  a  strenuous  order.  Mr.  Hartagous  hearkened 

O 

with  an  access  of  attention.  "  I  don't  see  it  that  way. 
I  think  that  Mr.  Desmond  cares  more  for  her  and  for 
us  than  anybody  else  ever  will.  I  think  his  proposal 
when  he  had  reason  to  think  her  fairly  bankrupt 

422 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

shows  that  he  was  willing  to  make  every  sacrifice  for 
her.  Then  look  at  him !  Why,  you  are  obliged  to 
see  that  he  is  head  and  shoulders  above  anybody, — 
though  he  is  not  rich.  But  he  is  younger,  just  as  you 
say,  though  he  does  not  seem  young.  He  is  old  in 
mind  and  disposition.  And  Lord  !  the  heaps  he  knows 
about  everything  !  As  to  your  fear  about  what  people 
will  say,  — well,  /  have  seen  a  lot  of  the  world,  and 
it  seems  to  me  that  if  a  certain  kind  of  people  don't 
laugh  at  you  for  one  thing,  they  will  for  another.  If 
you  stay  at  home,  they  call  you  'a  swamper';  if  you 
travel  abroad,  they  call  you  a  '  globe-trotter ';  if  you 
dress  well,  they  ridicule  you  as  '  a  dude  ';  if  you  take 
it  easy,  they  say  you  are  ( tacky.'  My  idea  is  to  go 
right  ahead  and  do  what  you  think  is  right  and 
properest,  and  —  let  them  laugh !  I  'd  hate  to  deny 
myself  anything  good  and  valuable  'cause  Mrs.  Ken- 
topp  might  giggle  over  it." 

"  She  left  us  out  of  her  house-party,  —  and  we 
ain't  dead  yet !  "  said  Chub,  banging  the  heels  of  his 
shoes  back  and  forth  against  the  sofa. 

Reginald  took  a  deeper  view.  "  I  think,  sir,  that 
her  happiness  ought  to  be  considered  first.  She  is 
young,  after  all  is  said,  and  has  many  years  yet  to 
live,  I  hope.  She  ought  to  have  her  independence, 
—  to  be  a  free  agent !  When  I  was  in  India,  there 
had  been  a  recent  case  of  suttee  way  off  somewhere 
in  some  remote  district,  —  I  heard  a  great  deal  of  talk 
about  it.  People  had  supposed  the  practice  was  sup 
pressed.  And  without  meaning  any  disrespect  to 
my  father's  will, —  for  I  can  understand  how  the  idea 

423 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

of  a  stranger  in  the  family  circle  would  influence  a 
division  of  property,  —  I  always  thought  an  objection 
to  second  marriage  was  a  sort  of  civilized  suttee.  As 
to  Mr.  Desmond,  himself,  I  should  prefer  him  as  a 
stepfather  to  all  the  world." 

And  thus  Desmond  was  welcomed  without  a  dis 
sentient  voice. 

At  first  Mrs.  Kentopp,  who  might  be  taken  as 
representing  the  gossips  at  large,  was  so  rejoiced  that 
Great  Oaks  Plantation  would  not  come  immedi 
ately  on  the  market  in  competition  with  Dryad-Dene 
that  it  mitigated  the  acerbity  of  her  views,  and  al 
though  she  twinkled  and  dimpled  much  in  comment 
ing  on  the  disparity  in  age  and  fortune  and  prospects 
of  the  couple,  her  talk  had  not  the  rancor  which  it 
developed  later  when  Mr.  Loring  seemed  indisposed 
to  console  himself  with  Dryad-Dene,  and  gradually 
drew  off  without  making  any  offer. 

A  golden  era  of  happiness  had  dawned  on  Great 
Oaks ;  the  waters  of  the  overflow  gradually  disap 
peared,  and  during  the  brief  interval  of  the  wedding 
journey  Mrs.  Kentopp  drove  over  through  the  mud, 
bogging  down  once  or  twice  in  the  alluvial  sloughs, 
on  a  tour  of  discovery,  and  recounted  with  facetious 
distortions  of  effect  afterward  Chub's  simple  boast 
ings  in  great  pride  as  to  the  preparations  that  were 
making  for  the  reception  of  the  couple  on  their  re 
turn.  Mr.  Stanlett  had  designed  and  supervised 
these,  and  was  very  important  and  happily  busy.  u  I 
hope  he  furnished  the  money  to  pay  for  the  changes, 
for  otherwise  I  don't  see  where  it  was  to  come  from, 

424 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

for  Desmond  must  have  put  all  his  pedagogic  savings 
in  the  expense  of  the  bridal  tour,"  she  jovially  specu 
lated.  Great  Oaks  was  very  judiciously  embellished, 
and  looked  most  genially  hospitable  on  the  day  of 
her  visit,  for  the  old  man  had  a  pretty  fancy  and  an 
accurate  discrimination  of  the  appropriate. 

"  I  always  said  there  was  another  will  or  codicil, 
or,  to  be  accurate,  '  paper-writing,7 ' '  he  cheerily 
averred,  as  he  handed  Mrs.  Kentopp  into  her  car 
riage.  "  This  is  not  of  course  the  provision  that  was 
intended  for  Honoria,  but  it  passes,  —  it  passes  fairly 
well,  and  Edward,  my  nephew,  Mr.  Desmond,  you 
know,  does  not  care  for  money." 

And  when  Mrs.  Kentopp  repeated  this,  she  was 
wont  to  point  out  gayly  the  incongruity  of  this  state 
ment  with  the  fact  that  "Edward,"  Mr.  Stanlett's 
"  nephew,"  should  have  contrived  to  surround  him 
self  comfortably  with  that  useful  commodity  in  a  wife 
so  well  endowed  and  three  very  rich  stepsons,  over 
whom  he  had  now  paramount  influence.  She  found 
much  joy,  also,  in  Horace's  simplicity  in  believing 
that  the  sentimental  interests  between  the  two  had 
been  settled  before  the  discovery  of  the  last  codicil 
which  had  put  a  new  aspect  on  the  financial  status, 
and  she  sought  to  convince  people  in  Deepwater  Bend 
and  elsewhere  that  the  comfortable  estate,  more  than 
the  phenomenal  beauty  of  the  lady,  had  served  to 
obviate  the  disadvantage  of  the  disparity  of  years. 

Prosperity  supplemented  happiness.  There  was  a 
great  crop  of  cotton  produced  by  the  overflowed 
lands ;  the  debts  were  finally  settled ;  the  yacht  was 

425 


THE  FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

gone,  indeed,  when  all  was  done,  but  the  emeralds 
remained,  and  the  next  carnival  season  the  famous 
beauty  blazed  in  all  her  wonted  splendor  upon  the  old 
coterie  in  New  Orleans  which  she  had  frequented  in 
her  girlhood.  But  she  soon  became  secondary  in  the 
household.  Colonel  Desmond,  —  how  Mrs.  Kentopp 
laughed  when  that  brevet  of  consideration  was  added 
to  him  instinctively,  insensibly  by  the  community,  ad 
dicted  to  the  bestowal  of  titles  on  those  who  so  man 
ifestly  were  entitled  to  the  insignia  of  supremacy, — 
in  the  serene  quiet  of  the  ensuing  winter,  found  in  the 
desk  of  the  library  the  scattered  sheets  of  a  manu 
script  which  he  had  written  in  his  lonely  leisure  in  the 
early  days  of  his  stay  at  Great  Oaks.  He  re-read  it 
in  surprise,  and  withal  in  self-conscious  doubt,  then 
again  with  growing  appreciation.  He  thought  that  he 
could  not  now  write  its  like.  It  had  the  concentrated 
strength  of  complete  mental  isolation.  It  was  the 
work  of  the  seer,  —  one  who  stands  apart  and  judges 
justly  without  flinching,  and  it  was  instinct  with  the 
abstract  truth.  Much  of  it  was  bitter  like  life,  much 
of  it  was  sad ;  but  it  apprehended  an  unrealized  pur 
pose,  a  symmetry  of  design  in  life,  a  divine  direction, 
and  it  shadowed  this  forth.  So  unfamiliar  had  the 
work  grown  in  the  lapse  of  time  that  he  was  flattered 
by  the  tone  of  its  scholarship,  its  evidences  of  close 
reasoning,  deep  learning,  and  wide  scope  of  thought, 
and  the  distinction  of  its  literary  style.  For  this  reason 
he  showed  it  to  his  wife  and  the  eldest  of  the  step 
sons,  and  straightway  the  household  clamor  arose. 
Greatness  unsolicited  had  knocked  at  their  doors ! 

426 


THE   FAIR  MISSISSIPPIAN 

Fame  had  been  busy  all  this  time  gathering  laurels 
for  their  brows.  The  younger  sons,  although  uncom 
prehending,  were  equally  elated,  and  though  Desmond 
laughed  at  them  all,  he  let  them  have  their  will,  and 
he  became  grave  and  respectful  toward  their  acumen 
when  he  read  the  letter  of  the  publisher  to  whom  it 
was  submitted. 

Mrs.  Kentopp  said  later  that  its  vogue  —  an  abso 
lutely  unreadable  book,  on  all  sorts  of  political  con 
ditions,  for  nobody  had  really  read  it  —  was  because  a 
notable  English  statesman,  very  meddlesome  with  pen 
and  ink,  had  canvassed  its  positions  in  a  London  quar 
terly,  duller,  if  possible,  and  less  read  than  the  book 
itself,  and  another  English  quarterly  had  published 
Desmond's  reply,  and  for  some  time  the  counter-argu 
ments  of  other  political  economists  who  found  the 
work  of  vital  interest  caused  the  effusion  of  much 
printers'  ink.  And  when  the  family  went  to  London 
the  next  year,  Colonel  Desmond  was  lionized  in  distin 
guished  circles,  and  was  given  an  additional  learned 
degree  at  a  great  English  university  where  he  had 
taken  one  in  his  earlier  youth. 

"  Deepwater  Bend  is  a  literary  centre  now,  and 
don't  you  forget  it,  and  has  its  learned  light,"  Mrs. 
Kentopp  dimpled,  "  though  none  of  us  of  course  have 
read  or  ever  will  read  the  Great  Book." 

But  even  Mrs.  Kentopp's  flings  were  destined  to 
disregard  and  discontinuance.  A  javelin,  however 
skillfully  aimed,  must  needs  have  a  point  to  take 
effect.  "  I  don't  think  there  seems  a  disparity  in  age," 
a  stranger  in  a  social  company  had  dubiously  replied 

427 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

to  her  delighted  mention  of  the  ten  years'  differ 
ence.  "  Colonel  Desmond  does  not  look  so  much  as 
ten  years  older." 

And  after  the  company's  somewhat  mischievous 
burst  of  laughter  had  shown  their  comprehension  of 
her  intention  and  hopelessly  mystified  the  stranger, 
who  could  not  imagine  what  had  been  said  amiss, 
Colonel  Kentopp  had  taken  occasion  to  admonish 
his  wife  in  private.  "  You  do  yourself  no  good,  An- 
netta,  by  harping  on  that  woman's  age.  People  will 
only  think  you  carping  and  jealous." 

And,  indeed,  Desmond  was  fast  growing  older  and 
graver.  Other  books  had  succeeded  the  first;  and 
while  they  added  distinction  in  differing  degrees,  they 
ridded,  too,  the  marks  of  thought  on  brow  and  mien. 
Now  the  light  always  burned  late  from  the  library 
window  on  the  water-side,  and  the  river  pilots  counted 
its  faint,  far  glow  in  their  midnight  bearings.  Often 
they  pointed  it  out  with  pride  to  some  passenger  ad 
mitted  to  the  wheel-house,  seeing  it  shining  with  a 
sort  of  stellular  isolation  amidst  the  darkling  ripa 
rian  forests  of  Great  Oaks,  and  repeated  the  titles  of 
his  volumes,  although  perhaps,  like  Mrs.  Kentopp, 
they  had  read  none  of  the  works. 

But  this  was  really  not  the  illuminated  hour  of  the 
library,  the  time  of  its  signal  triumph.  Regularly 
every  afternoon  when  the  western  sunlight,  striking 
in  long,  slanting  bars  athwart  it,  turned  from  bur 
nished  gold  to  ethereal,  hazy  red,  his  wife  appeared, 
and  seated  one  on  each  side  of  the  fire  in  true  Darby- 
and-Joan  fashion,  as  Kentopp's  prophetic  eye  had 

428 


THE  FAIR   MISSISSIPPIAN 

long  ago  beheld  them  from  the  veranda,  Desmond 
read  aloud  the  result  of  his  day's  labor,  while  her 
beautiful,  listening,  reflective  eyes  dwelt  on  the  coals 
and  his  voice  filled  the  quiet  spaces  of  the  scholastic 
old  room.  She  never  criticised.  She  gave  no  word  of 
applause.  She  offered  no  monition  of  advice.  When 
he  laid  down  the  papers  and  their  eyes  met,  her 
comment  was  always  the  same. 

"  What  did  I  tell  you  long,  long  ago,  the  first 
afternoon  that  you  and  I  ever  sat  here  before  the 
fire?" 

"  Why,  that  I  ought  to  write  for  publication,  — 
to  write  books." 

"  And  what  did  you  say  ?  " 

"  Well,"  he  always  laughed  as  he  replied,  —  "  that 
I  could  n't,  —  that  I  was  not  capable  of  it." 

"  Then,"  she  was  wont  to  solemnly  rejoin,  while 
her  eyes  danced  with  joy  and  mirth  and  pride,  "  do 
you  never  dare  to  contradict  me  again  as  long  as  you 
live." 


JUST  DAVID 


By  Eleanor  H.  Porter 


"  Just  David  "  is  one  of  those  books  that  bear  a 
message  of  courage  and  inspiration  straight  to  the 
heart  of  every  reader.  If  you  want  to  make  a  lovable, 
life-long  friend,  get  and  read  this  story  of  the  boy 
who  brought  happiness  to  a  whole  village,  and  who 
will  bring  happiness  to  you. 

" '  Just  David '  will  be  read  with  gladness  and  grati 
tude  by  men  and  women  who  need  inspiration."  — 
Continent. 

"'Just  David'  is  delightful  in  every  way  ;  the  best 
story  in  many  respects  that  Mrs.  Porter  has  written." 
—  Zioris  Herald. 

Illustrated  in  tint.      $1.25  net. 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 


THE  VALLEY  ROAD 

By  Mary  Hallock  Foote 


"  A  fine  portrayal  of  the  progress  of  a  family  with  good 
old  traditions  through  more  than  two  decades.  .  .  .  This 
work  deserves  praise  for  its  fine  workmanship." 

—  Review  of  Reviews. 

"One  of  the  choice  novels  of  the  year.  ...  A  symmet 
rical,  beautiful  story,  with  passages  that  fire  imagination, 
that  smite  with  pity,  that  quicken  with  the  stress  of  life's 
great  moments.  Surrounding  it  all,  and  one  with  it,  is  the 
colorful  Californian  atmosphere."  —  Milwaukee  Free  Press. 

"In  'The  Valley  Road'  readers  who  have  learned  to 
watch  for  Mrs.  Foote's  books  will  find  all  her  best  charac 
teristics  revealed.  ...  All  her  people  are  delightfully  real." 

—  Louisville  Courier  Journal. 

"  The  vivid  character  drawing,  the  insight  into  people's 
hearts  that  is  shown  and  the  pictures  of  their  lives  combine 
to  make  a  fine  and  interesting  portrayal  of  American 
life.  .  .  .  The  story  is  refreshing."  —  Indianapolis  Star. 

"  A  healthy,  whole-souled  book,  fresh  and  free,  like  her 
own  dear  California."  —  St.  Louis  Globe  Democrat. 

$1.35  net. 


HOUGHTON  /§»[  BOSTON 

MIFFLIN  /Z§S  AND 

COMPANY  TOira  NEW  YORK 


"K" 

By  Mary  Roberts  Rinehart 

Author  of  "  Tiie  Street  of  Seven  Stars,"  etc. 


"A  brilliant  story  of  hospital  wards  and  work,  of  nurses, 
of  surgeons,  of  discouragements,  of  successes,  of  poverty, 
of  wealth,  of  love  —  in  short,  of  humanity." 

—  Cleveland  Town  Topics. 

"This  absorbing  tale  of  mystery,  love,  and  ambition  is 
the  climax  of  Mrs.  Rinehart's  art."  —  Kansas  City  Star. 

4 'No  fiction  reader  can  afford  to  omit  the  pleasure  of 
knowing  '  K.' "  —  Cleveland  Plain  Dealer. 

"  Intensely  readable  from  the  first  page  to  the  last." 

—  New  York  Tribune. 

"Mrs.  Rinehart  has  never  written  a  more  engrossing 
story."  —  Literary  Digest. 

Illustrated  by  Charles  E.  Chambers.    $1.35  net. 


HOUGHTON  /SasL  BOSTON 

MIFFLIN  /Z^ST  AND 

COMPANY  <fe\fe^  NEW  YORK 


THE  SONG  OF  THE  LARK 

By  Willa  Sibert  Gather 

Author  of"  O  Pioneers  /"  and  "Alexander's  Bridge." 

The  story  of  a  prima  donna's  life  from  childhood  on  a 
Western  ranch  to  international  fame. 

"  An  uncommonly  interesting  novel.  '  The  Song  of  the 
Lark '  is  a  book  to  read  and  not  to  '  skip.'  Its  gripping 
power  lies  in  the  reaction  of  Thea  Kronborg's  temperament 
upon  the  wise  and  courageous  mother  and  also  upon  the  gen 
erous  men  who  made  her  development  possible.  .  .  .  Miss 
Gather  has  created  a  flesh  and  blood  woman." 

—  Boston  Transcript. 

"A  story  of  something  better  than  suggestiveness  and 
charm  —  a  thing  finished,  sound  and  noble." —  The  Nation. 

"Many  books  have  been  written  of  which  the  chief  char 
acter  has  been  a  singer ;  there  is  something  about  a  career 
behind  the  footlights  that  is  strangely  alluring.  None,  how 
ever,  has  been  more  skillfully  and  sympathetically  written 
than  '  The  Song  of  the  Lark/  " — Louisville  Courier  Journal. 

"  It  has  the  artistic  and  literary  merit  of  her  earlier  book, 
4  O  Pioneers ! '  but  it  is  an  immeasurably  bigger  and  richer 
story."  —  New  York  Globe. 

$i  40  net. 


HOUGHTON  7>S£  BOSTON 

MIFFLJN  /^\W  AND 

COMPANY  frlra  NEW  YORK 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $t.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


MAY  29  19*4 

& 

avla'&iS? 

2JW** 

K.        '         3 

LD  21-100m-7,'33 

393777 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


